Review: Jose Cuervo's Mole Cask Tequila Makes For A Unique, Satisfying Spirit

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Jose Cuervo is a tequila producer that honors Mexican craftsmanship and heritage with its newly released Reserva de la Familia Añejo Tequila. Family-owned Jose Cuervo is the world's oldest tequila brand. The company's initial Reserva de la Famillia release was in 1995, coinciding with the company's 200th anniversary. It was the world's first extra añejo tequila. 

Now, after launching multiple Reserva offerings through the years, as the brand's new premium-tier, añejo release brings two of Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cultural traditions together in Reserva de la Familia Private Cask No. 2: Mole Edition Añejo Tequila. The new liquor celebrates Mexican tequila and mole sauce. Dating back to the 1600s, mole is a multi-ingredient sauce usually associated with Puebla and Oaxaca. 

Today, everyone from Mexican abuelas to Michelin-starred chefs craft regionally distinct mole sauce. Ancestral recipes are passed down through generations, telling the family's story through food. Mole sauce can contain 20 to 30 different ingredients, including dried peppers, toasted spices, nuts, dried fruits, and chocolate. You can create a short-cut mole sauce. However, the sauce typically takes hours of slow simmering to achieve its desirable depth of flavor. 

Cuervo believes finishing the tequila in new American oak casks seasoned with mole will impart the sauce's time-honored, intense flavors into the spirit. As a Certified Sommelier, and huge mole and tequila fan, I was intrigued and immediately reached out to the producer for a sample to try. Here are my thoughts after taste testing the new release.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

To begin the taste test, I poured a shot of tequila into a Glencairn glass. It is the best glass for sipping whiskey neat, and essential when analyzing spirits. It's a tulip-shaped glass with a wide bowl that narrows towards the top to concentrate the aromas. 

I let the tequila sit for a bit to breathe. Letting spirits breathe introduces oxygen into the liquor, waking up the aromas and flavors sealed inside the bottle. The time also allows some of the alcohol's burn to dissipate into the air. I then followed the steps for tasting spirits that I learned during my training to become a Certified Sommelier. I began by observing the color, followed by taking in the aromas, and tasting the spirit with and without a few drops of water. 

Additionally, in putting together this review, I reflected on a Mexican chef I know who slowly simmers his family's mole recipe to serve for his restaurant's family meal — such time and care is given to a dish reserved only for the staff. His reasoning for preparing a dish that requires such time and effort is that he believes the people who will later share his food with guests need to feel nourished and loved before their shift. 

Mole holds a connection to Mexico's cultural heritage. I considered this in determining whether the new tequila deserves a place on your bar cart. The question was whether its flavors expressed this cultural sentiment, or if the production technique was simply a gimmick to sell bottles.

To create the mole cask-seasoned añejo tequila, Reserva de la Familia begins the production with organically grown 100% Blue Weber agave. The agave piñas are roasted in traditional brick ovens before pressing, fermentation with the brand's proprietary yeast, and double distillation. Aging follows in a combination of French and American oak for at least one year. 

Once the añejo reaches the character Maestro Tequilero Alejandro Coronado is looking for, he transfers it to red Oaxaca mole-seasoned, medium-toast, new American oak barrels. The tequila finishes, resting in mole-rubbed barrels. When a distiller finishes a spirit, it is to impart additional texture, flavors, and aromas. Once in the casks, the tequila is left for up to four months to take on the characteristics of the mole-seasoned barrel. 

The resulting 80-proof añejo emerges from the barrel with a burnt orange, amber-like color and fragrant aromas of toasted baking spice, pepper, cacao, and caramel. On the palate, the tequila's sweetness comes across first. It opens with flavors of dried orange peel, roasted agave, roasted almond, chocolate, and warm baking spices that mingle with subtle chili spice, pepper and oak. 

The taste reminds me of cinnamon red hot candies, with creamy caramel, bitter dark chocolate, and crushed pepper. The tequila coats the front to mid-palate with mouthwatering spiciness. The finish is soft, almost too subtle. Sipping it neat, I would have liked a more lingering finish. Adding water softened it even more without revealing additional nuances within the tequila. Still, the multi-layered liquor was enjoyable.

Flavored liquors aren't anything new. Many types of liquor add some sort of flavoring to change the core taste and give consumers something new to try. However, this one is distinctive. If I didn't know it, I might not have guessed the finish on this tequila was in mole-seasoned casks. However, once you do, the multi-ingredient sauce creates the defining taste. 

You can taste the culture and craftsmanship that Reserva de la Familia is trying to impart. It is steeped in the aroma and flavor of an aged tequila, with the richness and depth of the slowly simmered sauce. While unique, the liquor's character is pleasing and enjoyable. Its flavor is unlike anything I have previously tasted. And it is delicious. It's one limited-edition liquor you should have in your home bar both for its overall flavor, and the Mexican craftsmanship it honors. 

Keep in mind, this isn't tequila to mix into a classic frozen margarita. And, don't even think that the peppery spice the mole imparts will make it a good option for a spiced ranch water cocktail. This is an uncommon, one-of-a-kind, quality tequila that you should drink like whiskey. I suggest pouring a dram and sipping it slowly, savoring its spicy, peppery, and chocolatey taste.

Reserva de la Familia Private Cask Edition No. 2: Mole Edition has a suggested retail price of $120. Although the mole edition tequila isn't the most expensive in the brand's portfolio, it is still a top-shelf option, priced to compete with some of the best luxury tequila brands. Still, you won't want to skip the top shelf if you see it at your favorite bar or restaurant. 

As the official tequila partner to the prestigious Michelin Guide, Reserva de la Famillia previewed the new release at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans in July 2026 during an elaborate, multi-course dinner with Michelin-starred chefs E.J. Lagasse, Enrique Olvera, and Val Cantu. If you didn't taste it then, you are in luck. The limited release is now available on the brand's website and through select retail partners nationwide. My suggestion is that if you don't purchase directly from the brand's website, it is best to shop around to find the best price available. Some retailers are offering this newly released tequila for much more than the suggested retail price.