When asked if anyone ever mixed anything with her tequila, Bertha Gonzalez Nieves responded with a straight face, “Not in front of me.”

And immediately upon sipping Casa Dragones tequila, I knew why.

Gonzalez Nieves is not only the co-founder and CEO of Casa Dragones–creator of one of the most delicate, handcrafted Blue Agave Joven tequilas on the market–she’s the first woman to be certified as Maestra Tequilera or a Master of Tequila by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila.

Casa Dragones is not what you’d use in your margarita. At $275 a bottle, it’s labeled as a sipping tequila, and it’s precisely that. The extremely smooth, floral, and almost creamy finish was something I did not expect. New flavors were present with each sip–coming from the Agave plant and from a hint of extra-aged tequila that is added to the blend which elongates the finish.