Casamigos Blanco

Seven hundred recipes. That is what George Clooney and Rande Gerber worked through before they settled on this one, and for the first few years they never sold a bottle — Casamigos was made for their own house in Cabo and handed round to friends, and only reached shelves when demand outgrew the kitchen. That origin still shows in the liquid.

It is 100% Blue Weber agave from Jalisco, slow-roasted in brick ovens rather than rushed through an autoclave, then given a long fermentation before distillation. The house style is deliberately soft. This was built to be drunk all evening, not to win an argument about agave intensity. Purists occasionally grumble about that. Everyone else keeps pouring it.

Pour it and cooked agave arrives first, sweet and faintly vegetal, with lime zest behind it and a lift of something floral. The texture is the giveaway — it coats the mouth instead of stripping it, white pepper turns up late, and the finish stays clean. No burn. At 40% it is gentle enough to sip neat, which is not true of every blanco at this money.

How to Serve

Neat in a small tumbler at room temperature, or over one large cube. Skip the freezer — chilled that hard, the agave disappears entirely. In a Margarita, go two parts tequila to one of lime and three-quarters Cointreau, and let the fruit do the work.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar, to taste what a properly built Margarita is supposed to be. Artesian at The Langham for the agave list. Bar Lotus when the evening has loosened up.

Food Pairings

Ceviche. The lime in the dish and the lime in the glass pull in the same direction, and the tequila is soft enough that nothing turns sharp. Grilled prawns with chilli and garlic if you would rather eat properly.