Mijenta is the Best New Blanco Tequila You Can Buy Right Now

This delicious sipping blanco is a tequila worth savoring.

Mijenta is a new sustainability- and community-focused tequila brand from two industry veterans, but you don’t really need to care about any of that, because the brand’s first bottle is so damn good.

Mijenta Blanco is an unaged tequila made with fully-matured highland agaves from Jalisco, made slow and pot distilled. It’s an impressive CV for a new tequila in a day and age where you’re more likely to see a celebrity’s name in the first paragraph than anything about distillation practices.

But proper practices only deliver so much, which is why this tequila blew us away. Behind the Mijenta brand is Mexico-based Maestra Tequilera, Ana Maria Romero, who has been making tequila for 25 years, and that experience was demonstrated here with a blanco that shows depth and edge—a true sipping blanco at $50.

“Mijenta is meant to unite all kinds of people under the same flavor,” explains Romero, “whether it is for tasting, pairing with food or tasting with friends. Each element of the journey has been crafted in order to celebrate the best of the land and its people – from the earth that graces us with its gifts, to our community who share their skills, to our customers who give us their trust.”

Mijenta Blanco starts on the nose with welcoming fresh kitchen aromas of buttery, cooked agave and a hint of seaside brine. On the palate, that cooked agave note is reflected as delicate hints of brown sugar, with touches of stone fruit and a persistent watermelon flavor.

It’s already a complex tequila at this point, but unexpected notes of tart cherry surprise as the dry finish begins, before a note of watermelon rind and a pleasing minerality take curtain calls.

If Romero was going for an all-purpose tequila, she has nailed it with this—it makes a gorgeous margarita, and takes well to Topo Chico and lime for a refreshing highball (or three).

There are more reasons to drink Mijenta, of course. The Mijenta brand’s community focus means that the success of the tequila brand is benefitting the local population. Mijenta works “hand in hand with local businesses and communities,” according to the brand, “directly re-investing a portion of profits, offering healthcare assistance, and providing assistance for team members and their families.”

The team behind Mijenta is also focusing their efforts on sustainability, using agave byproducts to create the labels and boxes for their bottles, and sourcing all packaging components from Mexican producers.

But Mijenta remembered the key rule of “philanthropy booze” where so many others have forgotten it: the stuff has to taste good. This does. Romero has managed to do something only a few other tequilas do profoundly well: capture many levels of the depth of agave in a single sip.

Mijenta Blanco is priced at $50 and available online at shopmijenta.com and reservebar.com. A Reposado is due out later this year, and you can be sure we’ll let you know how it is.

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Clay Whittaker is a Contributing Editor at Maxim.com. His work has appeared in Cigar Aficionado, Playboy, Esquire, Forbes, Town and Country, and elsewhere. You can subscribe to his newsletter here, and follow him on Instagram here.