Menjurje de Ancho Reyes Review - Mexican Chili Liqueur

In this video, Reinhard Pohorec reviews Menjurje de Ancho Reyes, a traditional chili liqueur from the Puebla region in Mexico.

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00:00 Introduction
Menjurje de Ancho Reyes is an interesting Mexican chili liqueur that has been all the rage amongst the bartending and mixologist community in recent times.

00:45 Ancho Reyes Overview
Ancho Reyes hails from Mexico, the Puebla region, where in the 1920s it was common for local cantinas to offer a homemade Menjurje or a sort of local home brew. This particular kind is a fiery spicy chili liqueur made with local ancho chilies, which originally are poblano chilies, but after being dried for about 20-25 days, they become the so-called ancho chilies.

01:52 Presentation
In general, I love the Ancho Reyes bottle as it's a glorious mixture of a rustic and artistic design. The label is quite ornate, and the bottle has a brownish tint with a distinct texture and pattern all over it.

The bottle itself has quite a bit of info on it. For instance, it references the recipe from the 1920s and depicts the ancho chilies used to brew it. More specifically, poblano chiles are handpicked and then dried to become what's called the ancho chili before being macerated in canes spirit for half a year. Lastly, that mixture is blended with other herbs and spices in order to produce the Ancho Reyes original.

There's a green or Verde variation of this that uses green poblano chilies, but this is truly the most classic and traditional expression of the overall theme.

04:04 Ancho Reyes Review - Robe & Nose
The color of the liqueur is golden brown with slight mahogany. The viscosity is thick, oily, and quite rich.

When it comes to the nose, there is a blast of smoky, slightly charred green peppers. Just behind that, what really strikes me is a medicinal note that has an aromatic connotation to it, similar to a traditional herbal liqueur. Behind that is a little bit of vanilla cream that rounds off with a pleasurable sweetness.

The spice is definitely intermingled with caramel and the slight musky and fustiness towards the very end to round it all off and give a lot of complexity and character to the bouquet and the nasal expression.

06:04 Palate
Right up front, there is spice and chili heat that burns all over your tongue and palate, though not in an unpleasant way. It's quite well balanced together with the sweetness, mellowness, and oily mouthfeel. But from beginning to end, there is this consistent pungent chili spice sensation and a very spicy, prickly upfront note from the ancho.

Overall, there is an evolution to the spiciness: at the beginning, it hits you right up front. Then it sort of peaks and tames down towards the very end where the spice fades into a more mellow sensation, allowing the sweetness and vanilla notes to shine through.

07:47 How To Serve Ancho Reyes
Despite its character and uniqueness. Ancho Reyes is a versatile spirit. You could have this neat or as a chaser with a bottle of ice-cold Mexican beer. You can also pour some ginger ale, or even a bit of lemon on top for a refreshing long drink.

Most definitely, it's a very promising ingredient for a simple two-part cocktail. Combine this with an Añejo tequila, or spice up your margaritas, Palomas, and any other cocktail with a Mexican connotation.

08:26 Cigar & Food Pairings
I had to go for a Mexican cigar here as well from the Turrent family, in this case, the 1880 Maduro that I picked because of the dark, rich leathery, aromas and flavors.

In terms of food, I tried some simple pieces of either dry bread, bread sticks, or one of my particular favorites is Italian bread that gives you a clean sheet to let the ancho chili really shine

09:22 Overall Experience & Value
In terms of affordability and value for money, this bottle is somewhere north of 30 euros so it isn't particularly cheap, however in my opinion the value for money is certainly there.

All in all I think this is a highly interesting next evolution of the liqueur category in general as I consider Ancho Reyes a lovely new rendition of a modern new world liqueur. It gives a lot of opportunities and a lot of different styles and plenty of material to work with to all the bartenders and the mixologists out there. But also, as I said, a very versatile and easy to handle for all you cocktail geeks out there when you would just love to whip something up, easy, simple at your home.

Already tried Ancho Reyes or have any questions? Leave us a comment to let us know your thoughts!

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