Rooster Rojo is a tequila owned by Latvian Amber Distribution. Rooster is clearly the most common tequila in grocery stores throughout the Baltic States. In Estonia, it can be found very comprehensively and, together with Sierra, it is the most common tequila brand. Rooster is also on sale at a very affordable price. Blanco, reposado and Anejo are usually priced at 20-25€, Blanco even several euros below that when it is on offer. Rooster Rojo is made in Jalisco, at the Fabrica de Tequilas Finos distillery. Tequila is made from 100% Weber blue agave. The agave is cooked in an autoclave for 10 hours. The fruits are squeezed into juice, used as alcohol for three days and distilled in a stainless steel pot still. The finished distillate is filtered through silver to remove impurities and diluted with water to bottling strength.

The nose is light and restrained. Just a little light agave aroma, some citrus and tobacco tones. The taste is also quite light. Agave does appear right at the beginning, but only very lightly. The fine sweetness at the beginning is quickly changed by the alcohol to a dry finish and aftertaste. In addition to fresh, green agave, the taste also has nuances of grass and tobacco, as well as a bit of pepperiness. At the end, there is also a bit of bitterness in the taste. The taste is still very soft and clean, and the burn is very mild. Maybe the distillation process was done too efficiently or it is the silver filtration, which has taken the agave aromas away.

Rooster Rojo still suits the taste of Baltic people. Here they are used to drinking vodka and Rooster Rojo hits that gap with its very light taste. Rooster doesn’t work very well in cocktails, at least in the sense that the agave flavor doesn’t show up in them. Margarita tastes almost as if it was made with vodka. Perhaps Rooster works best in a cliché salt-lemon shot. It seems to be still quite popular in local shot bars.

77/100