Join host Paul Leslie for an engaging 24-minute review on The Paul Leslie Hour, recorded live at The Matador in Charleston, South Carolina.
This time, Paul is joined by professional Charleston tour guide, certified Cicerone, and beverage expert Coby Glass.
With glasses in hand, they delve into a lively conversation while tasting the renowned Código Tequila, the celebrated spirit founded by the King of Country himself, George Strait. From the smooth notes of this premium tequila to stories behind tequila’s history, and Coby’s expert insights on beverages and Charleston’s vibrant scene, this episode is a perfect blend of flavor, fun, and light-hearted talk.
Whether you’re a tequila enthusiast, a George Strait fan, or just love a good chat over drinks, tune in for a relaxed, comforting listening experience!
Available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Help Support the Show Here
Here is the formatted transcript for your blog. I have removed the “filler” back-and-forth, corrected the retakes, and ensured the substantive quotes remain intact.
Spirits, Stories, and George Strait: A Tasting with Coby Glass
In this episode of The Paul Leslie Hour, Paul sits down with Coby Glass—certified Cicerone, historian, and raconteur. Recorded on-site at The Matador in historic Charleston, South Carolina, the duo samples Código 1530 Tequila. They explore the history of this “private” spirit, its connection to the legendary George Strait, and the surprising nuances found in their Rosa and Reposado expressions.
Key Takeaways
- The George Strait Connection: The tasting is timely, following George Strait’s Kennedy Center Honors. Glass notes that Strait’s brand reflects his personal standards: no corners cut in music or spirits.
- The Rosa Tradition: Glass explains the history of “Rosa” tequila, which dates back to Spanish settlements when wine barrels were refilled with tequila for the return trip to Spain, giving the spirit a natural floral tint.
- Tequila vs. Other Spirits: Glass argues that tequila has a wider quality range than almost any other spirit, moving from “health issue” bottom-shelf bottles to sophisticated sipping tequilas with vibrant personalities.
- Pairing and Pacing: While the Reposado offers an “eight-second ride” with a quick swell and fade, the Rosa Blanco provides a lingering sweetness that Glass suggests pairing with spiced chicken or even a mild cigar.
The Tasting Transcript
Introduction to Código tequila
Coby, did you ever get a feeling like you’re in a variation of a different time and a different place, but just there’s a little detail?There seems to be a continuity to our story. Yes. There’s a theme going on. Right. It’s never quite much like your mustache. It’s never the same twice when I hang out with Paul Leslie.
Well, we’re here at the Matador in beautiful, historic Charleston, South Carolina. I’m joined yet again by Coby Glass, certified Cicerone, historian, pub tour guide, raconteur.
And an enjoyer of spirits and certainly looking forward to our spirit today. And I am very thankful to Paul Leslie for including me and looking forward to another adventure.
Coby really knows his beverages. He will tell you history, suggestions on pairings. I’ve never been able to stump you. Not that I would try.
I can make it up pretty good when I need to.
It’s kind of fitting right now, although I didn’t plan this, that we’re going to be sampling Código tequila because it’s George Strait’s brand. It was just yesterday, I believe, he received Kennedy Center Honors, which is about the highest civilian honor you can get.
I agree, and I’m very excited. That’s a man who has extremely high standards, doesn’t cut corners, whether it’s music, his relationships, professional and personal. From what I understand, I don’t know the man, but I can’t wait to try tequila that he is going to be you know that he has put his brand on.So the first one here this is the Rosa Blanco okay and then they were so kind that they sent this a little sample of the Reposado.Knowing what you know about tequila is there one that you think is a fitting beginning excellent question because usually in a tequila tasting you would always go blanco the reposado and then the añejo and then an extra añejo if there is one that is the accepted thing but this throws a little monkey wrench in this is a blanca rosa right now if you were to go back during the spanish settlements So if you were to turn back the clock, as you said earlier, when the Spaniards were in Central America and had discovered the spirits, the natural spirits, the añejos or the tequilas, the mezcals.The wine barrels that they sent over with wine for their soldiers and to sell and for trade and for ballast and chips would then be refilled with tequila and sent back to Spain. And that wine barrel edge was the Rosa and that fell out of favor as you had better ways of transporting and that was mostly dead but has been brought back certainly in the last five to ten years and has become a very popular segment variation maybe a better word for tequila drinkers so rather than go blanco repo I think we go the other way around because the reposado will send a better baseline right and then we can determine if the Rosa Blanco is better worse you know how we perceive it perceptions the they’re not going to be the same okay and there’s gonna be enough variables where I think it would be more fun to do this one a little bit backwards okay I say.
All right may i you may absolutely the tequila tasting who knows we might kill a whole bottle, so Paul how did you come about being the one to introduce this to america this particular tequila yes um i think that i think that the the rod stewart our brothers across the channel there I think that they saw the sampling that we did of Wolfie’s, which is the Rod Stewart scotch, and it was just a natural progression. If y’all haven’t seen the Wolfie’s episode, that was a lot of fun. We filmed that. How long ago was that?
It was about a year, maybe. About a year. It was chilly. I remember that. I think I remember that. We didn’t drink that much.Very soft florals. Softer than I expected. There is a floral, absolutely. Yeah, there’s a bit of a cream in there. Definitely softer than I expected. Not at all what I expected.
I will confess, I’m a total, total novice when it comes to tequila sipping. So I’ve tried whiskey, scotch, all those things, brandy, but… I’ll take the little Sam Sutras. They grow here naturally in Charleston. and I have a friend who gives them to me occasionally.Personal tequila preferences
I’ll peel it, take the little, they’re tiny little wedges, put them in the freezer, and then I’ll take two of the little wedges and put them in my tequila and sip on it, and it kinda has a cooling effect, but I like the combination of the little samsutras, little tiny citrus wedges and the tequila, so I enjoy my tequila that way.Well, it escalates quickly for a repressado. I was betrayed a little bit by the nose being as soft as it was because the attention was there, and it swelled very quickly. A lot of mouthfeel, a lot of presence. And then a nice fade. Didn’t linger. Some honeysuckle on the linger.
I can taste that. You’re used to tequila, or I should say I’m used to tequila that’s maybe not as high quality. And so I’m like, here comes the burn, but this, you don’t get that. You get a very, very slight warm feeling.
That’s a really good eight seconds, George. No, that is. That is about an eight second ride. And that is, the irony is not lost. It goes, swells up, does a few twists, and three seconds, hop right off. That is uh that’s fun now Coby do you think it’s just to be sure yeah yeah let’s let’s do that make the most of things, It’s an Irish thing. You can tell by one sip, but it’s best to be sure.
The margarita debate
Do you think it’s too good to use in something like a margarita?
Ouch. A good, well-mixed margarita can be complemented by a good tequila. Yeah. I’m not talking about the sugary, artificial-colored mix, but a hand-done authentic ingredient margarita done by someone who knows what they’re doing they know that they can use a good tequila generally a good tequila is going to be wasted if you’re using the off-the-shelf mixers it’s silly in fact it’s very often a worse drink because you want sometimes the harshness of the less expensive tequila to balance the sweetness of the sweet and sour of the mix so if i met fill-on-the-blank mexican restaurant the strip mall with my bolo margarita no yeah that’s right and i do that guilty but but yeah i i want house tequila in that um but you can make an amazing margarita with good tequila and with something that elevates like this and then again that eight seconds or so and gone uh i think it could certainly escalate a quality margarita.
It’s very good, I can say that. Maybe not the most eloquent way to put it, but…
You are a man of words.
This is a whole new level of tequila drinking. It’s something that, as I said, rank novice, never sipped fine tequila until now.
Oh, really?
Actually, I take that back. I did try Herodura one time, a really good one, and learned that hey, not all tequila is created equal.
I firmly believe, Paul, that tequila has more of a range from the low quality to the high quality and i i don’t think this is even subjective than any other spirit you can look at something with a very small window of vodka most notably it’s grain neutral spirit the more it tastes like water the better for the most part i disagree with that but that’s common myth you know i like flavor not flavored tequilas but you have vodkas, but I rarely drink vodka because it’s boring. But if I do, I want some signature to it. Tequila, on the other hand, you can get really bad tequila. The additives are the easiest thing to look for and make sure it’s 100% blue agave. Make sure it’s a true, not a, the really bad stuff. And I’ve fallen for the trap because some of the brands change. You just can’t get enough of the blue agave. And they become blue agave spirit. Those are the ones that are going to cause you health issues. That’s the ones you don’t want to drink on a normal basis. That’s the stuff they put in the bolo margarita at fill-in-the-blank Mexican restaurants. But the sipping tequilas can vary so much from one to another. It is amazing how the personalities can be so vibrantly different. And I do generally, anytime I’m doing a tasting, and I do beer a lot more often than I do spirits and I do a good bit with wine.What is it, you know, what is that bell curve? What is the roller coaster ride? You know, if it’s a basic, say a Baltic porter, you’re going to have a nice firm middle and it’s going to be clean at the beginning and end. You know, unlike an English porter that has a linger. You know, they’re supposed to be different.Tequila just buckle up buckaroo and you’re on the roller coaster you know it can go so many different directions and like i said this one starts out with a big hill the top escalates quickly does a few little twisties there and then the ride ends in about eight seconds that is uh, that is lovely craftsmanship excellent yeah i i i have to admit i can’t wait to try, the Rosa but let’s not get ahead of ourselves I would like to thank the Matador here in Charleston for hosting us I’ve been here before at night a few times but not during the day and it looks every bit as good during the day you can see a lot more details yeah but they were our kind host thank you thank you to the Matador and thank you Nicole.
Coby do you have an all-time favorite tequila song there’s there’s been a recurring subject,
I was recently fortunate enough to do a Fruitcakes on the radio for jimmy buffett, and there’s a song in there and i had joked that because i do alcohol themed pub tours, pints pubs pirates prostitutes and politics and i had made a little joke that i think tampico Trauma has all five of those in there. And even though it’s not officially a tequila song, it is about hanging out and drinking in bars in Mexico, which I think is pretty much enough of an overlapper that counts. The live version from Atlanta, 1978, I think, you can correct me on that, mid-70s, Jimmy Buffett, You Had to Be There, Tampico Trauma.
Yeah. Good choice. Very good choice. I have to say the one that pops into my head, a very underrated Brooks and Dunn song, kind of connected to tequila, more than a margarita. I don’t know if you’ve heard that one, but it starts with, I started the day with Corona, which I know you’re admittedly not a huge fan of.
Yes, I’ve often said you couldn’t put a $100 bill down in front of me for me to take a sip of a Corona, and I’ll stand by that. Okay. Hold on one second. They’re not a sponsor, are they?
So, are you thinking that we should…Sorry, Paul had to leave for a moment. The attorneys for Corona were calling. And asking us to retract the last statement.
Examining the bottle design
But you ready for… The headliner? Yeah. Okay, let’s do it. All right. We take this off of here.
Very curious when I saw it just the kind of makes me think of Zinfandel wine in color yeah that little tint it just intrigued me a nice classic bottle too tequila is well known tequila has the best bottles of anybody and some tequilas sell to be honest because the bottle is really cool when I worked for a high-end beer importer and we had the best beers in the world and I would tell my distributors doesn’t matter if the beer is good they’re like what do you mean good is assumed once you get to a certain level every all your competitors are good too what else you got yeah and you have to have something else in addition to being good generally to be you know successful it can be a well located restaurant it can be a great name there’s a lot of things that can go in And it can be from an area, from a town that is popular tourist attraction or desirable in one way or another. So George Strait obviously has tremendous respect and influence throughout generations of music and genres. That’s the truth. But he didn’t go tacky. He didn’t go kitschy. As you were saying, very classic, very refined. It’s an elegant package. And I was thankful to see that. I was hoping it didn’t have like a cowboy and some spurs, you know. Right, right. He went class all the way.
Which, what would you expect from a guy who did a duet with Frank Sinatra, for example? I don’t know about you, but even just opening it, this one, in terms of smell, I’m smelling it, it smells wonderful.Tasting the Rosa tequilaAre you getting any of that? I’ve got a big nose, you know, but it’s not as, really not as good as yours. Well, let’s see what you’re…
Okay trying the rosa now okay cleaner on the aroma on the nose.Little little grassy yeah a little drier than more hay than grass that kind of yeah i was going to say subtle difference but straw yeah that’s which is a nice thing actually yeah but very clean on the nose that is i’m almost wary now after being fooled on the other one, that wine gives it a sweetness that’s right up front it does it just leads with that little rollout of this is so stupid but it almost like those little bubble gum cigarettes that i had when i was a kid and you had that little powdered sugar on the outside it’s like that but it’s just there for a second you know you get that little bit of sugar but yeah that little sweetness that rolls right through and then the tequila comes after that’s nice yes there is something of wine in it in terms of the flavor subtle so very not like hitting you over the head but just a little bit in hindsight i’m glad we did this one because that there is complexity here it would have worked either way this is a softer even though the rested the reposado had that more intensity like I said more of a bowl ride this is much more gentle, this is more of a serenade this is very gentle on the palate and it does.Kind of samba through as opposed to the 8 second ride.The linger is nice yeah that sweetness rolls right through yeah and it kind of stays in the background the rest of the time it never fully goes away it just kind of hints that it’s back there still and then it kind of meanders and it it stays the same a long time after it’s got a very good linger to it more so than the reposado it seems that each sip invites another it’s really smooth it is yes this is dangerously easy to drink that’s what i was thinking you said it but yeah, Yeah, like I said, my little piece of citrus in there would complement this one very nicely. Yeah, whatever that initial sweetness is, and it’s like a little agave, but you don’t get it as much in the nose. Those don’t, much like the Repo, the nose and the actual experience are not, you know, there’s a complexity there that is, it doesn’t give you that much of a hint. The preview and the movie aren’t the same, you know. So they go in different directions and it keeps it interesting now what would you see somebody eating this with for this one I think this would go well with.Like a spiced chicken a grilled chicken something that had a little kind of a maybe a tropical like a plantains some mangoes something that would kind of give it a little bit of a citrusy or tropical citrus kick because that complements this one well. And I tell you what this would go really well with is a good mild cigar. This is a good tequila for a cigar because you have that offset that would complement so well. Yeah, I would love to have a good cigar with this. That would.Something just a little spicy, but that little sweetness that this has would balance a cigar very nice.
Interesting idea.
People don’t always think tequila with cigars, but I don’t see why not. I mean, it’s a wonderful combination. You want the excitement or the relaxation, and cigars can go that gamut and tequila. And you can mix and match. You can go with the two. You know, it’s just fun.
Favorite George Strait songs
Coby, do you have a favorite George Strait song?
It is so hard not to go with some of the, you know, I’m always tempted to go with the deeper cuts because it shows knowledge. You know, I get to show off how well I know, you know, and he’s got so many and the collaborations that he’s done, the things that I hear. But there’s one song that just paints a picture every single time, and it’s a song I’ve never gotten tired of hearing. A friend of mine does a karaoke it’s one of his best known and oldest songs and it’s just one of those perfect songs the chair oh my gosh what a song it’s just an easy song but the again it’s hard to find perfect songs yeah but songs that you don’t get tired of hearing yeah even when you know i’ll admit it there’s a lot of songs that i might claim to be my top 10 favorite songs of the 50 or so songs that are in my top 10.A lot of them if they come on a radio series XM what have you i’ve heard them so much that i don’t want to hear them more yeah i will change the channel because i don’t you know the burnout, but that song if it’s like A Christmas Story at Christmas if it comes on i’m i’m riding it the rest of the way out, you know. It is, I’m not changing. It’s a song that always makes me amused.
Yeah he has so many uh one that i’ve been listening to a lot lately it’s a new one from this last album god and country music it’s just oh it’s killer but then i think of you know, the chair was written by Dean Dillon, such a great songwriter and who also wrote Tennessee Whiskey, and iI think of uh
Well that was early early mid 70s
Tennessee Whiskey yeah yeah, which a little trivia for you all… George Strait turned that song down. Oh. David Allan Coe.
He’s a tequila guy.
Right, right. Yeah, but his song, this makes me think of his song, Here for a Good Time, because I’m certainly having one right now.
I’ll drink to that. Good times. That just gets easier to drink.
Recommend?
Absolutely. I think it’s of the two. Yeah. I think I like the Blanco better. I am intrigued by that little, like I said, that little sweet outer, that little hint that it dances in and out. It stays mostly in the background, but it makes it more parable and more fun to drink in a few different ways. Whereas the Reposado I would like you know on its own maybe a little some sutras you know or a little clementine but this is a, gets me going more this is a we’re going to have fun tonight we’re drinking tequila beginning of the day tequila and this is a more end of the day relax settle down and enjoy, two very different tequilas more different than i expected i expect a variation of the same theme and that’s not what they did here at all or if they didn’t it doesn’t come across that way comes across as two very distinctively different tequilas and that’s very impressive.
Well Coby thank you so much for sharing some background. I always learn something anytime I talk to you but also it’s always good to share a drink.
Always.
Cheers, Paul.
Cheers. Thanks, folks.
Really is good.
