I first sampled the Casamigos line of tequilas at the legendary Tahiti Nui on the North Shore of Kaua’i in the Hawaiian islands, where I was fortunate enough to tend bar for a couple of years between 2013 and 2015. Shortly before my tenure at this iconic Kaua’i institution (the oldest restaurant on the island) a rather well-received movie was filmed on the island called The Descendants, and stars George Clooney and Beau Bridges bellied up to Tahiti Nui’s rich-with-history bar to film a memorable scene.
Mai Tai’s are unsurprisingly the specialty of the house at Tahiti Nui, but when rabid Clooney fans visited the bar (and there were MANY) I often pointed out his line of Casamigos tequilas. Founded in a partnership with longtime friends and fellow tequila enthusiasts Rande Gerber and Mike Feldman, the Casamigos line was created after countless blind tastings with a Jalisco master distiller to achieve the smoothest possible expression that wouldn’t require lime and salt “training wheels” to be savored neat.
The finest quality is ensured by patient methodology: the agave piñas are slow-roasted for 72 hours (average is 7 hours steamed) and then fermented for 80 hours (average fermentation is 48 hours). The crisp, citrus-forward Blanco; spicy, oaky, and silky-smooth Reposado; and wonderfully complex and smoky layers of the 2 year Añejo are all excellent to sip on their own or in cocktails. I’m personally not much of a Hollywood worshipper, but I DO appreciate a good tequila—and Casamigos fortunately lives up to Clooney’s stellar reputation.
