Rey Sol Tequila Extra Anejo

The first time I tried Rey Sol Tequila was many years ago, at "Las Perlas" bar, Downtown. I was with my (then) girlfriend, who's now my wife of 7 years, and two of her girlfriends. We were seated near the display case of their fancier tequilas, and the distinctive handblown glass, retro sun bottle, and the deep, whiskey-toned color of the tequila inside caught my eye. I went to the bar and told the bartender that I wanted a shot of whatever was in that sun-shaped bottle, she explained that it was called "Rey Sol" and that it was a $40 shot, and asked if I still wanted it. My inner eyes bulged in cartoonish disbelief, but externally, I played it super cool and said "absolutely" with a faint hint of an attitude, like a King sensing unexpected insolence from a servant. Anyway, after they poured my shot into a fancy little snifter, I went back to the table. Where I hadn't even gotten a sip before every woman at the table, who "never drank tequila straight" started admiring the whiskey-like caramel color, taking deep whiffs and saying how it smelled "yummy like whiskey too!"--then they started taking sips and remarking how it was as if it were somehow what they knew as tequila, had been transformed into a warm, rich, spicy, faintly sweet Mexican whiskey. As they raved, I was able to get my glass back from them, and confirm all of the above. Tasting Rey Sol made me think that all the tequila that I had enjoyed before that moment (and I really do enjoy sipping a good tequila), had been too "young", even the anejos, and had never reached what I had here in my glass, the Tequila version of a long-aged, top shelf, fireside-sipping whiskey--Rey Sol showed me the best of what a tequila could be, in a color nearly mistakable for a fine bourbon. In the words of Ferris Bueller "If you have the means, I HIGHLY recommend picking one up--it is SO CHOICE!"