The Aroma hits with alcohol, agave,cardboard, and citrus. All together not a very appealing aromatic combination to me. The initial taste is off putting, and cardboard comes to my mind, but then it dissipates, faster than I expected, and faded into agave, citrus, pepper, fruity, honey and lemon grass notes. The finish was pleasant to my surprise and liking, the taste trailed away with soft fruity notes. The last drip/sip in the glass does not taste like clean/pure water to me. For the price it gets a pass, better than other blancos I've tasted that cost more or more popular

I wasn’t expecting much and didn’t get much. The good news is that you can use it as a mixer if that’s the sort of thing you are into. The nose is heavy on acetone; I’d guess from the use of immature agave crushed through a roller mill. Raw young agave dominate the taste, with punctuations of black licorice, slight citrus, and earthy herbs. There is a slight syrupy velocity to the finish. It’s a healthy 5 second finish with lingering herbs and spices. I’ll stick to the frozen chimichangas at TJ’s next time.

Smooth sweaty taste with an Okey Taste finish

Nose is great. Cooked agave, citrus, hint of smoke and leather. The mouthfeel is thick, rich and coating. The palate is balanced sweet, floral, with rich cooked agave, and an herbal minty character. The finish is lasting with lots of agave and minerality. Suprisly good. Would recommend.

According to the back of the bottle this should smell like fresh agave (I would hope so!), bright lemon (as opposed to dull lemon?), and hints of black pepper. Sounds pretty standard. Unfortunately even with such modest standards this Tequila somehow manages to be a let down. The back of the bottle isn't *technically* wrong with its tasting notes. More so that it just doesn't smell nearly as nice as they would lead you to think. There's certainly an extremely strong odor of agave but I wouldn't really qualify it as being "fresh" nor particularly appetizing. It's the most generic agave scent I have smelled. Completely unexciting. There are indeed strong traces of lemon deeper down. But it's closer to the lemon scent you get from Clorox wipes or very artificial candy than the real deal. I'm also willing to concede there are "hints" of pepper in the aroma but only if we are very charitable with the word. It's more like ghost traces. Small inclinations. This mainly just smells like cheap agave with no character. This tastes really, really weird. At first I thought there was almost a smoky characteristic to it but upon further tastings it's closer to some slightly charred wood shavings. Certainly there's the presence of agave throughout but it's also muddled with a really bizarre, artificial mint flavor that marks the entire experience. This seriously feels like if you drank cheap Tequila mixed with toothpaste and some sawdust. It's also surprisingly sweet but not in a pleasant way. I have to wonder if they artificially added sugar to this because it tastes sweet in a way no other Blanco has. Despite what my descriptions would lead you to believe, however, the overall experience is actually extremely subdued. You'd think something I described as having a toothpaste like flavor would be forceful but really its taste is quite diluted and actually fairly unremarkable. It isn't pleasant but it isn't actively unpleasant either. Basically it just tastes like an unusual but somehow extremely dull Blanco that teeters on the edge of being actively bad without quite getting there. As for the finish, let's not get our hopes up here. There really isn't a finish to this other than the flavors suddenly stop and you have to dig deep within yourself to get any more out of this experience. There is just a bit of a black pepper kick towards the end and if you roll your tongue around for a bit you could almost feel like if you just brushed your teeth about five minutes ago but that's it. On the other hand that does mean there isn't a sharp ethanol burn or any out of place, chemically flavors. If anything it's actually fairly smooth. Not sip worthy at all but you certainly won't be gagging from partaking in a shot. If anything it almost feels like there isn't any alcohol in this thing. More like agave flavored water. After last week's foray into Jose Cuervo, the smoothness of the finish is actually welcome even if it doesn't ingratiate myself to the brand. For comparison I actually drank this alongside the Zapopan since it used to be Trader Joe's Tequila. They're remarkably pretty similar in that they're both extremely straightforward affairs with very little to set them apart. As far as I could tell, Trader Joe's Tequila isn't made from a diffuser but auto-clave and the similarity with the Zapopan seems to confirm this suspicion alongside the NOM of 1143 which also makes the Tequila for Costco which is known to use Autoclave. Interestingly enough though I found myself actively reaching for the Zapopan. Not because I find it to be an interesting Tequila but because it just felt like it had more character and assertive flavors. There's not much to it but it actually feels like a Tequila drink. But the Trader Joe's Tequila? It feels more like a ghost than a real experience. It just exists to provide you with 40% alcohol that tastes like agave then fade away from memory without a trace. There are worst fates in life I suppose but for $20 to be outcompeted by a Tequila worth $12 is just unacceptable. Even worse, the somewhat odd flavors in this Tequila make it so I can't even recommend it for a margarita. I want to emphasize here that it doesn't taste absurdly bad. It just doesn't taste very good and if anything feels extremely generic. I really can't see myself ever buying this again, buying it for a large party and realistically, I don't know what I'll do with my bottle. What a shame.

I think is a great quality bargain tequila that can be brought to a party or is good in a mixed drink. For sipping, I’ll stick to some of my go-to favorites.

A little harsh on the first sip but once that fades, it finishes nicely with a hint of sweetness and citrus. Good in a classic margarita but would need a little more sweetness to even out the flavors.