Tequila tasting in PV

Hi ladies & gents! My hubby and I are taking our first cruise to the Mexican riviera next week and we were looking for recommendations for tequila tastings. We are looking for outside companies, as we weren't impressed with the excursions offered through our cruise. It is an overnight stay in PV, so late timing is not an issue 😊 Thanks in advance!!

I am afraid that the best Tequila tastings are in......Tequila, which is a 4 hours drive (one way) from Puerto Vallarta. You have to arrange a private driver or organisation and maybe get some fellow passengers to join you too. The drive itself is very nice.

The few that offer tasting in Vallarta are often related to time share or a small outfit that offers their type of Tequila, often mixed with flavors.

Last winter there was a place along Rio Cuale in old town between the bridges of Hwy 200 going south and north.

Another place Tequila Don Tadeo is in Nogalita, more south of old town.

I think you better check with shops like La Playa, they carry a good selection of Tequila and liquors. They can advise you also about this.

Hi ladies & gents! My hubby and I are taking our first cruise to the Mexican riviera next week and we were looking for recommendations for tequila tastings. We are looking for outside companies, as we weren't impressed with the excursions offered through our cruise. It is an overnight stay in PV, so late timing is not an issue Thanks in advance!!

Hi, I wish you had posted sooner because I have some good info for you. However, I am posting it anyway so others can be helped. Do not be discouraged that PV is so far from the tequila area! For a November 2015 cruise, I organized a group of 8 through the cruise critic roll call to go on a tequila tasting trip.

I contacted Superior Tours online at http://www.superiortoursvallarta.com. I arranged a 'Private City Tour." It cost $160.00 for a 4 hour trip. I had to pay a $48 deposit, and we paid the balance of $112 at the end of the trip that day.

Through research, I found Rancho Verano Tequilla Distillery in Tomatlan, which is about 30 miles southwest of Puerto Vallarta, about a one hour drive.

It was well worth while to do the trip, and it only costs $20 pp. We all had a really great time. There was only one snafu, the company did not clearly inform the driver of which place we wanted to go, so he tried to take us to two others. But when none of us exited the van, he learned that we were insistent on going to the planned location. There are several other tequila places and he was not familiar with the one we wanted.

The driver spoke very good English (which I requested), and was a good driver. He started out driving us around PV with the typical tour stuff, then took us to a tequila place close to town. We balked, he said it was a long drive to where we wanted to go, we replied that we better get going then!

We had a brief 15 minute stop at a flea market perched on a hillside above Mismoya Beach. Fresh coconuts are offered there, with lime juice and chile powder (get the inside to go after drinking the milk; they will put it into a plastic bag for you); super delicious.

The driver's name was Noel.

Rancho Verano Distilleria had six tequilas. 1) Blanco, pretty good for $39 a bottle. The bottles are 750 ml. 2) Reposada, I thought was okay, not great for $41, but I drink really good reposadas. 3) Anejo, unique flavor and delicious at $62 a bottle. 4) Coffee, very good. $36 a bottle. 5) Almond flavored, $36, very strong almond flavor. 6) Mango Fruit, $36 a bottle.

I bought a bottle of the anejo, blanco, and the coffee. Once I got home, about 25 people at a tequila tasting loved the anejo!

The novelty is not that they are great tequilas (although I think the anejo is), but it is the fact that you get them directly from a place where they are distilled. A tour is given at the location of their process. Samples of each are given, and you can ask for more than one little cup of tasting.

If you go here, be sure to wear insect repellant. I got nearly 2 dozen no-see-um bites that itched for two weeks after.

It was a really fun trip, and I would do it again, but I would be certain to tell the driver up front to go straight to the Rancho place, then go to at least one other tequila place )there are a couple others nearby), and then if any time is left do sightseeing on the way back. I thought he understood what we wanted so I did not say anything at the very start. Next time I would clarify it.