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¡Tequila!

By  Jeff Borg

Forget the dorm-room tequila of yore. Today, tequila has evolved into a highly sophisticated liquor — a national drink, beloved icon and valuable export of Mexico — with numerous premium tequilas selling for more than premium scotches, gins and vodkas.

Mexican tequileros distill the noble spirit from the 110-pound hearts of blue agave plants, called piñas. Cultivated for several millennia, blue agaves thrive around Jalisco state, where Spanish conquistadors first distilled the drink in 1600.

The better tequilas say “100 percent agave” on the label. Blancos (white tequilas) require no aging. Reposados (gold) often age in oak casks from two months to a year. Añejos are the darkest, oldest, priciest tequilas. These are aged for more than one year in oak casks. Premium añejos are aged for more than eight years.

While in Mexico, order the good stuff, drink it straight and see how fine tequila really tastes. Then take home as many bottles as you can carry. The savings here far exceed any duty.