Don Ramon Tequila Reposado

I was wandering the liquor store on the morning of Cinco De Mayo looking for some tequila and beer. I already had the Pacifico’s picked out, and just needed some tequila for margaritas. I was looking for tequila reposado that was reasonably priced, or even cheap. That’s when I came across Don Ramon Tequila Reposado.

Now, I was immediately wary of this tequila. It was a really fancy bottle design that was done cheaply. One of those bottles that looks cool, but up close is cheap and corny. It gives me the sense that I’m getting really cheap tequila that’s marked up for the bottle design. But, it was what I was looking for, so I picked it up, whatever.

In this Don Ramon Tequila Reposado review, we’re going to discuss whether or not this is actually a good tequila, or whether it’s all marketing and design. We’ll also cover some of the history and distillation methods of Don Ramon Tequila.

As a note, there are a couple different types of tequila in the Don Ramon lineup. This review is on the reposado option in the Punta Diamante (Diamond Point) selection.

Casa Don Ramon

History

Casa Don Ramon was founded in 1996 and purchased by The Dialce Group in 2018. Casa Don Ramon is located in Jalisco, Mexico. They have state of the art facilities and distill, age, and bottle their tequila on-site.

Production Methods

Like all tequila, Don Ramon uses 100% blue agave from the Jalisco region of Mexico, specifically the Highlands.

After 7 years of maturation, the Blue Agave is harvested and the piña, or heart, is cut out. The agave hearts are slow cooked in autoclave ovens over the course of several days. This produces agave juice, which goes on to be fermented and eventually distilled.

Where whiskey has master distillers, Tequila distillers have a maestro tequilero. Jesus Reza serves as the maestro tequilero for Casa Don Ramon and oversees the production of all their tequila and mezcal spirits.

Don Ramon Tequila Reposado Punta Diamante Overview

• Spirit: Tequila Reposado
• Owned By: Dialce
• Distilled By: Casa Don Ramon
• Aged: 3 months in American white oak
• ABV: 40%, 80 proof
• Mashbill: 100% blue agave
• Price: $30

Just the labeling of ‘Tequila Reposado’ tells us a lot about this spirit.

First and foremost, Tequila can ONLY be produced from 100% blue agave and in Jalisco, Mexico as well as a couple municipalities of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. If it uses any other type of agave or produced outside of these regions, it will be labeled as mezcal.

Reposado refers to the age statement of a tequila. Silver or blanco means the tequila is unaged. Reposado means the tequila is aged anywhere from 2 months to 364 days. Añejo is aged 1-3 years, and extra añejo is aged 3+ years. Joven is also a category which blends blanco and reposado tequila.

Aged tequila must sit in oak barrels, although it can be any type of oak. American oak is popular for reposado tequila, but añejo and extra-añejo often use French oak like Limousin or used barrels,

Don Ramon Tequila Reposado Tasting Notes

Now that we’ve covered the basics, lets jump into the flavor profile. Is Don Ramon Tequila good? What does it taste like? Time to pour myself a glass and find out.

Nose: The nose is not very appealing off the jump. I get alcohol, iodine, and paint at first. That’s not all there is, but that’s what sticks out. There’s a little vanilla and butterscotch, an herbal and earthy quality that smells a little dusty.

Palate: A sweet vanilla with a touch of citrus hits the tip of my tongue, then comes the astringent, medicinal, herbal quality to it, but it quickly moves to back to vanilla and some black and green pepper.

Finish: Not harsh, short to medium in length. Pepper fades into the sweet vanilla seen throughout and ends a little dry and dusty.

Taste Summary

Don Ramon Reposado is definitely drinkable neat. In the way that it’s not awful, but it’s not something that I really want to drink by itself. It reminds me a bit of Hornitos Tequila because of the dusty note to it.

The vanilla also tastes a little artificial with how sweet and strong it is. It’s not quite as subtle as we see with whiskeys that spend multiple years in new American oak barrels.

Lastly, there’s a medicinal and astringent quality to the tequila which doesn’t do it any favors either.

Value

As I mentioned, I originally bout Don Ramon Reposado for the purpose of margaritas, and it actually made quite a good marg. However, I’d rather spend less money on a good blanco tequila like Espolon, El Padrino, or Corazon. If I want something with more flavor, or something on the rocks, I’m going to spend an extra $5 for Teremana Añejo.

The one saving grace for Don Ramon Reposado is the price in Mexico. While a bottle will cost you ~$30 in America, it’s widely available in Mexico for less than $15.

A decently priced reposado tequila that has a cool, albeit cheap, bottle design and features. However, that’s about the best I can say about Don Ramon Tequila Reposado. The tequila isn’t bad, it just falls well below most other tequilas that are similarly priced.

Summary

Don Ramon Tequila Reposado was about how I expected it. It’s already a fairly cheap tequila reposado at the $30 mark and comes in a very fancy looking bottle. You’re paying more for the appearance of nice and expensive tequila than you are for what’s actually in the bottle.

Again, this isn’t to say Don Ramon Tequila Reposado is bad, it’s just not good. It doesn’t stand out, perhaps even falls short, in comparison to so many other tequilas that are similarly priced and even cheaper.

Perhaps their añejo tequila is more refined and more naturally flavored, but Don Ramon Tequila Añejo comes in above $50. I don’t drink nearly as much tequila as I do whiskey, but even with my narrowed experience, there are a lot of better options than Don Ramon.

However, if you do find yourself with a bottle, it does make a fine margarita.