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A while back, I attended the final night of the Agave Spirits Challenge, which was held at Hacienda Sisal (a Mexican restaurant located in front of the Royal Sands resort in Cancun, Mexico). The Agave Spirits Challenge was a tequila tasting competition that was hosted by Tequila.net. The competition ran for several days and tequila experts from Mexico, USA, and Canada tasted nearly 100 different tequilas, mezcals, and sotols. There was also a competition for the best bottle design and packaging.

Here are some photos of the professional tasters in action…

This man, Ricardo Cisneros, holds the title of “The First Tequilier of the World”.

I was asked to photograph the final night of the competition, as well as help judge the bottle design competition.

My favorite bottle from the Bottle Design Competition

I have never been a fan of tequila, but thought it might be fun to see if there really was something out there that I would consider to be good tequila. (By “good tequila”, I mean something that doesn’t taste like lighter fluid or paint thinner.) After I took some photos, I moseyed over to the tasting table to try and figure out why so many people love tequila.

The Tequila Buffet! (aka The Tasting Table)

I tried several tequilas but, since mezcals are apparently even stronger than tequila, I avoided them like the plague. I was shocked and amazed to find that I actually LIKED a couple of tequilas. Who knew?! I especially enjoyed Reserva del Senor Almendrado, an almond flavored tequila. In fact, I liked it so much that there seemed to be a glass of the tasty nectar within arm’s reach for most of the evening.

Yummy!!

I had worked up an appetite from taking photos and sampling various tequilas. The nice folks at Hacienda Sisal obviously read my mind because, the next thing I knew, a buffet of delicious Mexican dishes magically appeared before my eyes. I have no idea what most of the dishes were called, but every single mouthful was wonderful. Everyone at my table raved about how great the food was. (I also looked at a menu and noticed that the prices were VERY reasonable.)

While we dined, a Mariachi band played. Hacienda Sisal has a live Mariachi band Sunday to Friday from 7-8pm, but I think this performance may have just been a special treat for the people attending the Agave Spirits Challenge. Regardless, the band’s performance was very nice.

I certainly wouldn’t call myself a tequila convert, by any means, but I did find the tasting competition to be incredibly interesting and fun…..and I found a couple of tequilas that I like.

If any of you are tequila fans, check out Tequila.net and Agave.net. You will find the results from the Agave Spirits Challenge on both sites.

During your next Cancun vacation, be sure to have dinner at Hacienda Sisal. You won’t be disappointed. To make a reservation, please call (from US/Canada) 011 52 998 848-8220. Hacienda Sisal is open nightly from 5pm-11pm. In addition to the Mariachi performance Sunday-Friday (from 7-8pm), there is a Mexican Show on Mondays and Wednesdays (from 8-9pm), and a Caribbean Show on Tuesdays and Thursdays (from 8-9pm).