5 Sentidos Sierra Negra is a small-batch mezcal made in Oaxaca with maguey Sierra Negra. The high altitude at which this is produced makes the fermentation unique.
About this destilado de agave
5 Sentidos Sierra Negra is made with maguey Sierra Negra. The agave is hand mashed, fermented with spring water and tepehuaje bark in stone. This bark provides an organic source of nitrogen that is used to stabilize the fermentation. Albarradas is approximately 7,500 feet above sea level and too cold to ferment the agave without some sort of stabilizer. Once fermented, this mezcal is double distilled in clay pot stills. The first batch of this mezcal was released in the US in 2017 and was a total of 181 bottles. The ABV of each batch will vary slightly. Read about our visit with maestro mezcalero Alberto Martinez in the blog post Cinco Sentidos and El Destilado
Notable batches:
- SN01 – 140-liters
- SN02 – 178-liters
- SN03 – 140-liters
5 Sentidos
5 Sentidos (or Cinco Sentidos) is named after the five senses that their mezcaleros use to produce their agave spirits. The producers of this mezcal do not use any model machinery or tools, being guided only by their senses throughout the production process. The brand was launched by El Destilado restaurant in centro Oaxaca. The restaurant is known for it’s creative menu, unique cocktails, and exception agave spirits. The brand is a curated tour of Mexico with a wide range of expressions that are made by some of the best mezcaleros in the region. Cinco Sentidos is uncertified mezcal and is labeled as “Destilado de Agave”.
Learn more about 5 Sentidos:
- Cinco Sentidos and El Destilado on Mezcal Reviews
- Santa María Ixcatlán: Rawhide Fermentation with Amando Alvarez on Mezcal Reviews
- What’s in A Name? on the K&L Wines Spirits Journal blog
Review this bottle
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Jam
99 reviews46.82% abv, batch SN04-22 US
Review #85: Nose has bright orange oils and orange juice, tart pineapple, fresh mango, and sweet cream. The palate is fresh cream, mango, and juicy orange up front, then mid palate is fresh tobacco, sweet grassiness, carmelized squash, peach, rotten wet wood, mango skin, and then the finish has some clay and wet soil.
This is just so complex and full of flavor. A nice fruit bomb on the nose with a nice contrast showing up on the palate of sweet tobacco and vegetals with a funky earthy stuff going on. The aromas really pop out of the glass too. Really, really great
46.82% abv, batch SN04-22 US
Review #85: Nose has bright orange oils and orange juice, tart pineapple, fresh mango, and sweet cream. The palate is fresh cream, mango, and juicy orange up front, then mid palate is fresh tobacco, sweet grassiness, carmelized squash, peach, rotten wet wood, mango skin, and then the finish has some clay and wet soil.
This is just so complex and full of flavor. A nice fruit bomb on the nose with a nice contrast showing up on the palate of sweet tobacco and vegetals w
relevanteagle
12 reviewsBatch: SNALB 05-21
Bottle: 200ml
ABV: 46.7
Nose: rain water, honey, lavender, banana
Palate: honey, minerality, spring water, water from a wooden barrel
Finish: clean with some minerality
Thoughts: This is a nice mezcal. It’s very refreshing and drinkable. Starts with this honey like sweetness that’s very clean and ends in minerality.
Average José
41 reviews* Batch: SNALB 09–21
* Bottle: 139/354
* ABV: 48.6%
The nose is quite nice. Nothing exactly “pops” or is extremely noteworthy but neither is it at all offensive. Mahogany and cherries and slightly lactic, not bad!
The first tastes are bits of rubber and dusty roads… Thankfully it gets more pleasant, even near-delightful. There are hints of various clays and bark and cinnamon with a bit of red pepper. It has a spicy long lasting finish due to its high viscosity as well.
The total finish packs more heat than flavor, the main flavor I could pull out of it was hot grass. This is not one I will personally be buying again however because of it’s higher price and because I’d rather invest in one of the many other varieties available from 5S.
* Batch: SNALB 09–21
* Bottle: 139/354
* ABV: 48.6%
The nose is quite nice. Nothing exactly “pops” or is extremely noteworthy but neither is it at all offensive. Mahogany and cherries and slightly lactic, not bad!
The first tastes are bits of rubber and dusty roads… Thankfully it gets more pleasant, even near-delightful. There are hints of various clays and bark and cinnamon with a bit of red pepper. It has a spicy long lasting finish due to its high viscosity as well.
The total fin
BoulderBrexitRefugee
25 reviewsBatch SN11-19. Not my thing I guess. On the nose and palate I get salt, iodine, seaweed. Savory and kinda funky. Needs more sweetness for me. Nice mouthfeel and there is complexity here, I just prefer more fruit, sweetness etc.
UPDATE: some time later… I guess it needed some oxygen. After your bottle had been open a few days it tasted *much* better. Upgrading to 4 stars.
Jose M. Aguayo
11 reviewsBatch: SNALB 09-21 / 48.6% ABV
Nose: cherry yogurt;
Palate: cherry; pineapple; pink peppercorn, clay
little_agave
29 reviewsBatch: SNALB 05-21 46.7%abv
Aroma: cane sugar, papaya, cherry, fruity
Palate: maple sugar, cherrywood, candied orange, sweet floral, hay
aroma was abundant. really enjoy when catching pleasant hints before even nosing the glass. I dare say this but it’s reminiscent of anejo tequila’s I’ve had, but also different. This is down right fantastic.
justsomedude
28 reviewsBatch SN08-19. Though I have had several and they’re consistent.
Nose: Dewey, verdant gardens. Rosebuds, lilac bushes preparing to blossom. Juniper, fir, and cedar trees. Orange blossoms. A cloying undercurrent of honey, marmalade and bee pollen.
Palate: Perfectly balanced bright green grass and herbs with underripe pineapples and green apples, backed by tilled soil and essence of tack room. Nice and dry, but not astringent.
Finish: Long, cleansing, dry. Sr. Martinez’s signature barnyard notes come out in the finish with an emphasis on saddle leather and crushed rocks.
Overall: I tend to prefer sweet and fruity but this bottle has some magic in it with so many different flavors and aromas working in harmony. It’s dryness ultimately makes it a great pairing with food and endlessly drinkable.
Batch SN08-19. Though I have had several and they’re consistent.
Nose: Dewey, verdant gardens. Rosebuds, lilac bushes preparing to blossom. Juniper, fir, and cedar trees. Orange blossoms. A cloying undercurrent of honey, marmalade and bee pollen.
Palate: Perfectly balanced bright green grass and herbs with underripe pineapples and green apples, backed by tilled soil and essence of tack room. Nice and dry, but not astringent.
Finish: Long, cleansing, dry. Sr. Martinez’s signature barnyard no
MezcAleman
28 reviewsBatch SNALB0120 – Bottle 072/228 – 51,96%
My first Sierra Negra. From now on for sure a Maguey I will pick more often.
Sweet on the nose, mild smoke nice agave all well balanced.
Very smooth and creamy, some fruits. Overall a great mescal and a buy recommendation like all 5S so far!
Unfortunately the 5S are not easy to find.
COak
223 reviewsBatch SNALB03-21. Alberto consistently makes great mezcal. I’ve luckily been able to hike with him to see his majestic Sierra Negra plants. This batch isn’t quite as good as the others I’ve tried in the past. The finish isn’t quite as long and great as the others. Snickerdoodle cookies, black pepper and green beans.
Americana Kyle
60 reviewsBatch SNALB0120 / 51.96% / Btl 96/228
I’m a believer in Sierra Negra and this is my new standard for this agave. I would order any batch of the 5S Sierra Negra based on how much I enjoyed this pour. Incredible job!
Soxfan
18 reviewsWonderful! I wish I could find another bottle. If I do, it will almost certainly be a more recent distillation but I would buy it on the spot. Such a full-flavored, resonating mouth-feel that resonates for minutes. This is a finish that does not disappear for a very long time. BATCH SN08-19. 116/159. 47.9% ABV.
bardle
4 reviewsBatch SN09-19
Nose: Sweet Cream and tropical fruit (mango maybe?), ripe agave, some sourness almost like green apple concentrate.
Palette: Sweet tropical fruit bomb, That green apple concentrate comes back with a creamy, almost lactic mouthfeel. The sour notes balance the tropical fruit really well. Hints of earth somewhere in the background. This is awesome.
Finish: A quick punch of heat, then the sweet fruit comes back and some earthiness to round it out. The sourness lingers in a pleasant way.
Batch SN09-19
Nose: Sweet Cream and tropical fruit (mango maybe?), ripe agave, some sourness almost like green apple concentrate.
Palette: Sweet tropical fruit bomb, That green apple concentrate comes back with a creamy, almost lactic mouthfeel. The sour notes balance the tropical fruit really well. Hints of earth somewhere in the background. This is awesome.
Finish: A quick punch of heat, then the sweet fruit comes back and some earthiness to round it out. The sourness lingers in a pleasant way
ElAgave
34 reviewsBatch SN03 47.3v
Rarer agave – distilled in clay
Agaves were 12-15 years before being harvested
Grow to 250-300kg
Must be cut into 6ths to be transported
Beat the pinas with a stick to keep the curses out
Nose – creamy, cabbage, lemony cheese, light funk, barnyard, salty
Palate – tart cherry, pomegranate, lime zest, fruit roll up, earth, hay
Finish – sweet and fruity
spasta
22 reviewsGreat mezcal. Don’t remember much else about it.
Zack Klamn
531 reviewsBatch: SN03
Nose: Leather. Sod. Cherry. Herbal cough medicine.
Palate: Cherry cheesecake. Cinnamon spice. Eucalyptus. Clay and ash finish with a gentle heat. Quality!
Patrick
54 reviewsNose : Barnyard funk, earthy and leather all up front with strawberry cheesecake and bagaso ending things
Taste : powerful, sweet, loads of cinnamon, clay and again strawberry cheesecake.
Finish : this doesn’t end… Peppery, smokey and sticky.
Do not start your evening with this mezcal!
J Highland
4 reviewsBatch SN09. Strong clay scent. Sweet with some spicy element that produces bubbles on the tongue. Hints of grapefruit, melon and dirt. An awesome destilado and one of my very favorites.
il1
12 reviewsClay, funk, leather, cheese. Don’t really get any fruit. Very thick.
meserole
73 reviewsAt some point while dining at El Destilado in Oaxaca, I tried a bunch of the 5 Sentidos mezcals. And… probably I was too drunk to remember, although I do recall that the food was mind blowing.
Anyway, I was keen to try a Sierra Negra, and saw that this was one of the best reviewed mezcals on the site bar none. Unfortunately, maybe this was a middling batch (SN-06) but I was disappointed.
The musty, “barnyard funk” that others mentioned is there on the nose, unfortunately the body was totally surprising. I swear it almost tastes like a neutral grain spirit, or perhaps an unaged (“white”) corn whiskey. I swear I could be misled about what spirit this even is in a blind tasting.
Can’t mark it lower than 3 stars as it’s certainly unique, but I might have trouble finishing this bottle.
At some point while dining at El Destilado in Oaxaca, I tried a bunch of the 5 Sentidos mezcals. And… probably I was too drunk to remember, although I do recall that the food was mind blowing.
Anyway, I was keen to try a Sierra Negra, and saw that this was one of the best reviewed mezcals on the site bar none. Unfortunately, maybe this was a middling batch (SN-06) but I was disappointed.
The musty, “barnyard funk” that others mentioned is there on the nose, unfortunately the
HyeWestSaloon
3 reviewsSN05-18
Absolutely wonderful. Nose is nice and bright. But what a parade to the palate. So many levels going on. It’s savory! Dusty and dry. Sweet and spicy. Leathery slap to your tongue. Makes you want to come back for more and more. Absolutely love it.