La Venenosa Puntas

* Lot: 25
* Bottle: 109/150

A *fantastic* Raicilla – Strong flavors, strong heat, tons of sweetness and just plain tasty. ABV is high (63%) but you would never know it.

Long finish and super palatable. The perfect amount of cooked agave and cheese funk and yet it somehow still delivers my desired smooth creaminess.

Lots of various fruits; barely any smoke and honestly the best Raicilla I think I’ve ever had. This is something that I will keep on hand until La Venenosa makes something better to replace it with. A+!

Lot 21, 03/22 production date, 61.9% abv

Review #17: Nose has lemongrass and quite herbal. Palate just smacks you in the face. Wow. So many flavors at once. This is 61.9% and isn’t even that hot. Very funky. Light lactic creamy notes, but as someone else ive read says, more jamaican like funk and i agree, it works so well with the all the fruit here. Strawberry, pineapple, red wine, melons, grape candy, lemon. A touch of milk chocolate. A variety of sweet herbs, like rosemary. A bit flowery as well. Light minerality and some sort of chemical note i get similar to the occidental. There’s no smoke on this. Very complex and there’s a lot there that is still difficult to pick out. Worth trying at least once

Batch #21

Nose: white grapes, red berries, fruity pebbles, slight carmel, pear

Palate: strawberries and cream, fruity pebbles, slight minerality, green grapes; mild heat but the mouthfeel is full and rich. Snappy finish featuring herbs and cheese, mostly getting dry green apples after the vapors dissipate.

I’m a HUGE fan of this bottle, super delicate, soft on the palate in spite of the ABV. I’ll probably be on the lookout for another bottle so I can compare but man this stuff is incredible.

61.4% abv, Date: 3-22 Lot: A26 Bottle 240T

Picked up this 200 ml bottle at Louie’s Liquor in Azusa. I first tasted this puntas in Chicago this past October at Frontera Grill. Really impressed with that pour. This offering has a thick, strong mouthfeel. Hot for me, unlike other reviewers, but not burning. Has lots of flavors: sweet caramel and toffee, grape jelly, and peppermint. On the backend, there is a touch of the funky raicilla flavor, a bit of cream cheese. Definitely a must try if you come across a bottle at a bar. I am usually going to opt for any puntas regardless, but do seek this one out; you won’t be disappointed.

This bottle is hard to compare with any other agave spirit because of its unique character. It does not smell of mezcal: it’s a very fruity funk like a Jamaican rum, not the lactic, typical raicilla connotations of milk products or barn. Also lilac and a metallic minerality. Little smoke on the palate if any, tastes of a marriage of rhum agricole, aromatic pisco and a vegetal agave spirit. The aftertaste lingers on forever, sometimes suggesting a barrel aged spirit, but at other times just delicious, fresh fruitiness.. I’ll might try water the next time, but this is lovely as it is.

Lot 5.

Date: 4-17
Lot 4
Bottle 25-280

Agave Maximiana

**ABV:** 61.8%

**Nose:** Strong, pungent. Ripe red strawberries, fruity pebbles, clay, peppers, agave funk.

**Palate:** Medium oily mouthfeel. Dry, Strawberries, clay, roasted green peppers, clay, earthiness, slight minerality. Light funk, slight salt.

**Finish:** Long length, dry. Fruity pebbles, roasted peppers, earthiness, minerality, slight funk.

This thing is an all out assault of red berries all throughout, almost sugary cereal-esque in pure pungentness. This plays well with the more savory flavors of the peppers, clay, and the light agave funk that this bottling has. I can see why this is considered a choice cut due to how intense the flavor is.

That distinctive raicilla taste – a change from the more smokey mezcals on the shelf. Always search out a La Venenosa when travelling as it’s been hard to get in Australia. Sweetness and fruits, currant, grape and apple with a touch of candy. ABV 61.8% leaves a sharpness on the mouth leaving room for the flavours to make mark. Second sip confirms the flavours and perhaps a bit more robustness. Third? OK, I will. It’s also the first chance to own a bottle of La Venenosa, so a special place on the shelf. Lot 4: Bottle 191-300: Date 4/17.

Nose of dried apple much like the other La Venenosa raicilla from Maximiliana agave. I got notes of spearmint, grape, apple, and slight metal. It doesn’t taste too strong going down but the finish leaves your palate tingling from the high ABV. Compared to the other La Venenosa Maximiliana raicilla (black bottle), you can taste the difference a second distillation makes.. the flavor experience is more compact and distinct here. I enjoyed this but expected to be more impressed considering the high cost of about $200/bottle; thankfully I tried this at a bar. Lot 3, 5-16.