PM Spirits Still Strength (110 Proof) Blanco Review

PM Spirits is an importer, distributor, and self-proclaimed “Provider of geeky Spirits.” The spirit company first started with French spirits and wines, with the most important of these being Cognac, or  as their website says “the commonly impenetrable world of artisan Cognac.”

Their portfolio now ranges from some of the best mezcals in Mexico, tequilas such as Wild Common for example, gins, vermouths, sherries, and simply put, some of the world’s best spirits and liqueurs. 

When PM Spirits wanted to partner with someone to make tequila, they knew they had to keep true to their “Geeky Spirits” roots, and, of course, they wanted to make things right. With this in mind, they decided to partner with tequila veteran Jose Luis Gutierrez and make it at NOM 1468. This is the same NOM, or tequila producer, as other great brands like Lalo for example. I also appreciate just how apparent their efforts in being transparent in such a cloudy industry are on their bottles as well. They provide the average age of their agaves and their brix level, how long the cooking time was, and even the hours it took to distill. I love that, and you probably guessed it, it is 100% additive free, which was confirmed by Tequila Matchmaker.

PM Spirits is also transparent when it comes to their batch sizes. Every bottling comes from a single oven, or horno, fill. So, it is a true “small batch” or even better, a “single batch.” Looking at you Teremana! There have been two releases now, each with a still strength expression at 55%, as well as a 40%. 

Enough talking, let’s try this. Here are my thoughts on PM Spirits’ Still Strength 55% Batch #2:

Aroma: Ok so to come out clean to the readers… my wife always helps me with tasting notes. I know. In all honesty, she is just so much better than me at identifying the notes and smells, and I want these reviews to be as accurate as possible! Women in general are better at this. Once I poured this and she took her first smell out of the glass, she said “wow this just took me back to Tequila,” in reference to the town, appropriately named Tequila! And that is exactly it. If you ever get the chance to visit Tequila at night, you’ll notice an overwhelming cooked agave smell that just dominates the city. That’s because that is also when all of the distilleries open their ovens. And THAT is what this amazing still strength smells like. It’s also briney, minerally and citrusy. It is just awesome. 

Flavor: Wow! Right at the first sip, a warm cinnamon-like taste and a cozy, silky feel that will absolutely take over your palette. As it starts to cool down, a white pepper note begins in the middle of my tongue. The second sip has a unique fruity, sweet and vegetal note, almost like a honeydew served with mint, you know? Man, it’s just so tasty. The finish is briney like olive juice, minerally and earthy with just a hint of bitter grapefruit and some anise as well. 

MSRP: $60-70

Barrel Type/Source: There is no barrel, but here is the list of information on the bottle:

• Horno: 2022-01
• Type of agave: Blue Weber
• Average age: Six years
• Ripeness: 35 brix average
• Height of jima: 2.5 cm
• Oven: 30 tons
• Cooking time: 40 hours
• Type of still: Copper pot
• Number of distillations: Two
• First distillation: Eight hours
• Second distillation: 16 hours
• Distillation proof: 55% alc/vol
• Additives: None!

Lucas’s Rating out of 100: I don’t know if I can pinpoint my rating to just one number, but this one has gotta be in the 90s. The value is absolutely insane. In fact, I’ve seen lower-quality blancos for much more than this high-quality spirit. It’s complex and delicious, and I really applaud the effort in transparency, which you all know is very important to me.

This is just delicious. If you see it, grab it! As always, salucita!