Wild Common Still Strength Blanco Review

Wild Common is made at the legendary Cascahuin distillery by Salvador Chava Rosales. Since it first came out mid-pandemic this brand has stolen the hearts of connoisseurs all over. Wild Common started to impact the industry with sustainability efforts and documenting the efforts of the nonprofit Mezonte and Pedro Jimenez. But I want to tell the story of Andy Bardon and how he got Wild Common started.

After college, Andy moved out to Yosemite National Park in California and really drew inspiration from being outdoors. He started to get more and more into it over time and started inspiring other people to enjoy the outdoors, too. After some time building his portfolio, Andy got a call from someone who invited him to hike Mount Everest on an assignment for National Geographic, which led to a career with the publication. His work and love for exploration led him to visit some friends in Mexico.

Long story short, travels during his time in Mexico put him in what he called a “rabbit hole of agave spirits.” It’s safe to say that Wyoming just didn’t have the types of spirits the states in Mexico did.

Eventually, he met up with David Saro with Grover and ended up at Cascahuin, where he was first exposed to tequila production.

It was different than he expected. It wasn’t beakers and lab coats, it was “generations of respect and tradition. There’s an element of sort of serendipity and funk from the machines, from the rust, from the open air fermentation, the yeast.”

Then something clicked for Andy.

He reached out and asked to set up a call and potentially partner up on a brand that was different. One that was transparent. 

Then, they said yes. 

And now, Wild Common is putting out everything with a higher proof. They have a 42% blanco, but most people only go 40. They have a 43% repo, but most people only go 40%. They also have a still-strength blanco that’s 50% ABV that I want to tell you guys more about.

Wild Common Still Strength Blanco

MSRP: $85 (Buy Wild Common Still Strength on SipTequila)

Process: Cooked in brick ovens. A mix of both roller mill and tahona milling and it is distilled twice in copper stills with no water added. 

Aroma: As I poured the first drops into the cup, I knew there was a strong sense of familiarity. If you’ve been to Cascahuin, it smells like the brick ovens there. There’s so much cooked agave, so I naturally love it. Once that punch of agave mellowed out, I started to identify hints of an orange peel, a citrusy bitterness, nice minerals, some anise and a minty freshness that finished off the nose perfectly. Honestly, just the nose left my mouth watering to get a sip of this. 

Flavor: Again… agave, ALL of the Agave. I needed a second sip to start getting the different notes. This is awesome. Once I started to breathe out after sipping, I started to get a numbing tingle at the tip of my tongue which was definitely from the underlying black pepper taste. The sip also had that characteristic minerality from the Tequila Valley, which is especially present in Cascahuin. I am a huge fan of a buttery feel, so I was thrilled when this had a pleasant buttery mouthfeel and a hint of banana bread. Even with all of that, it was very fresh. The minty anise finish was especially so fresh and so good. Quite possibly one of my favorite high proofs ever. 

Lucas’s Rating out of 100: 91-92?! I mean I honestly don’t know what else they can do to make this better. Even the price is almost too good to be true. 

Overall, this was a sleeper from Wild Common, but if you only have one takeaway from this article, it is that you need to GET THIS. Salucita!