Every number in the Agave Index is built the same way. Here is the entire process, with nothing held back.
We buy the bottles we score at retail. When a producer sends a sample, it can inform coverage but never sets a score.
Five tasters, poured blind in coded glasses, no bottle shapes, no labels, no prices. Each scores independently on a 100 point scale.
The highest and lowest scores are discarded and the middle three averaged. No single palate, good or bad, moves an Index score.
Production changes. Every bottle returns to the panel at least every 18 months, and a changed score says so on the dossier.
| Range | Band | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 95 to 100 | Exceptional | A reference bottle. Benchmark for its category. |
| 90 to 94 | Outstanding | Excellent in every dimension, minor quibbles only. |
| 85 to 89 | Excellent | A confident recommendation at its price. |
| 80 to 84 | Recommended | Good, with reservations the review names. |
| Below 80 | Fair | The review explains exactly why. |
Verified Pure marks a bottle whose panel lot is confirmed to contain nothing but agave, water and time: no glycerin, no sweetener, no oak extract, no coloring. It is our own standard. It cannot be bought, sponsored, or applied for, and it is re-checked when a bottle is re-reviewed.
Nobody pays for a score. Nobody can. The Index carries no advertising, accepts no producer money, and treats a $500 decanter exactly like a $25 shelf bottle.