Review: Hornitos Lime Shot Tequila

Review: Hornitos Lime Shot Tequila

I was surprisehornitos lime shotd to see Hornitos — one of the most respected names in mainstream tequila — releasing a flavored product like this, clearly aimed at the party-crowd shot market. At the same time, I was intrigued. If anyone was going to do a good job with a “lime shot” tequila, it ought to be Hornitos.

The tequila, a very pale green/gold in color, doesn’t require a whole lot of explanation. It’s a 100% agave tequila, kicked with a touch of natural lime flavor. (The website says there’s salt added too, completing the trifecta.)

The nose offers quite a bit of lime, with a modest agave underpinning. More Meyer lemon than lime, at first blush, but close enough. The agave notes build over time as you let it settle in the glass, the overall effect becoming more “tequila-like.”

The body offers more of the above, but with more sweetness than sourness in the mix. Lime is abundant, something like a lime candy, but I don’t get any salt. What I also don’t get: Much tequila. What’s there is mild, a simple plata with just a touch of vanilla to give the sugary character some interest. Other than that, you won’t be able to pick out much more given all the lime flavoring.

If the idea was to recreate a bar shot, where you really don’t taste anything but lime juice, mission accomplished. But honestly, I’m still scratching my head just trying to figure out what the point of this is. Are limes that hard to cut up?

70 proof.

B- / $18 / hornitostequila.com

Hornitos Lime Shot Tequila

$18
7

Rating

7.0/10

A veteran journalist, the author of four books, a published poet, and an award-winning winemaker, Christopher Null has more than 25 years of experience writing about wine and spirits. He founded Drinkhacker in 2007. He also writes regularly about the science of booze for WIRED and is an occasional contributor to ADI's Distiller magazine. He has been a judge for both the American Distilling Institute Judging of Craft Spirits and Whiskies of the World spirits competitions and often works as a consultant, developing formal tasting notes for spirits brands around the world.

7 Comments

  1. DesertBaromess on January 14, 2015 at 11:32 pm

    Don’t even go here. No taste of lime AT ALL. Honestly. And no true taste of tequila either. It’s just back wash.

  2. Jason on March 11, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    This is the most terrible tequila I have ever had!!!! Don’t waste your money!!!! Horrible!!!!

  3. nan bee on May 9, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    Ghastly, undertone smell of wine gone bad..taste UGH

  4. BigSarge1 on January 8, 2018 at 11:56 am

    On thier website, the two and only reviews herald how great this stuff is. So I purchased a bottle epecting the best. Boy, what a big mistake and waste of my hard erned dollars. This faux tequila taste like pure lime flavored cough medicine. You have been warned!!!

  5. Kin on June 7, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    This was the worst tequila I’ve ever tasted. It smells like nail polish remover and tastes even worse. I’m not sure who passed this but they need to be fired. I thought don julio was bad but holy shit this is terrible. Doesn’t even taste like lime at all. Do not buy this. Repasado hornitos is good but not this. Absolute fail. Made me gag.

  6. Lisa on June 28, 2024 at 8:07 pm

    Absolutely no lime taste…..at all.

  7. vanessa on July 19, 2024 at 5:37 am

    I love it, what yall talkin bout

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