Sampling at The Tenderloin Room – St. Louis, MO

A Margarita with Cabo Wabo Blanco.

My wife and I found ourselves at The Tenderloin Room again celebrating a friend’s birthday. Given the opportunity, I decided to try a couple of Margaritas made with different tequilas to sample the difference.

Mary the bartender said her favorite tequila was Cabo Wabo so I tried that first. As usual, the Margarita was very good with a nice balanced flavor and smooth finish. Next I tried one made with 1800 Añejo. As Añejo tequila is made by aging in oak barrels, I could definitely taste the oak flavor come through in the Margarita. Personally, I didn’t really like the way the oak combined with the other flavors in the Margarita. It wasn’t bad, it was just different.

It is often recommended to leave the Añejo tequila for drinking straight and to use good Blanco or Reposado tequila for Margaritas. Given that Añejo is often much more expensive and that the oak may actually detract from the overall flavor of a Margarita, at this point I must concur with this recommendation. But I’ll need to sample many more Margaritas just to be sure!

A Margarita with 1800 Añejo. Notice the darker color due to the use of an Añejo tequila.