Lalocura San Martinero is made in Santa Catarina Minas, which is home to some of the most talented clay-pot distillers in all of Mexico.
About this mezcal
Lalocura San Martinero is made with a Karwinskii agave that is locally referred to as San Martinero. The agave is a larger, thicker sub-species of Karwinskii that can also be called Barril in other communities. A similar Karwinskii is also called Sanmartin in Ejutla, which is not terribly far from Santa Catarina Minas, where Lalocura is made. Maestro mezcalero Eduardo Angeles cooks his agave with Encino wood. He mashes the cooked agave by hand with wooden mallets, ferments the agave in open-air cypress vats for twelve days, and double distills this mezcal in small clay pots.
Lalocura Mezcal
Before starting Lalocura in 2014, Eduardo “Lalo” Ángeles spent years working as the fourth generation master mezcalero of his family’s brand Real Minero, where he combined a lifetime of working under his father, the late, great Don Lorenzo with a collegiate degree in agricultural engineering. Many Real Minero bottles from several years ago actually have Eduardo listed alongside his father as the master distiller. Lalocura’s clay pot distilled mezcals have built a steady cult following over the last few years. People from around the world show up at the palenque in Santa Catarina Minas each day hoping to spend time listening to Lalo tell stories while they taste the 20+ expressions he has resting in glass at any given time. If you like clay pot distilled mezcal and you like Real Minero, it’s highly recommended that you find some Lalocura.
Read about our visit to Lalocura in the blog post A Tour with Oaxacking: Mezcal Lalocura
Review this bottle
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JRock
6 reviewsPicked up a liter from the little Lalocura bodega in San Bartolo de Coyotopec. July 2023 batch. Lalo has done it again..and again…and again. Another delicious distillation, flavored as so well described by those before me.
Bryen
91 reviewsHell yes. Was in Paris and grabbed this at Candelaria (GO THERE FOR MEZCAL IF YOU ARE IN PARIS)! Knew it was rated high so had to try it. Perfect mezcal! Smooth and viscous in the mouth and a bit of a peanut flavor, very similar to a marteño. Been looking for this bottle since tasting it and haven’t had any luck yet— might just need to go to Lalo’s spot next time I’m in Oaxaca 🙂 get this one!
Ben P
137 reviewsBatch: 8M23-A
Nose: This has a nice Cuishe woodiness to it, layered with earth and mossy wood. Mulch, BBQ chips. It’s distinctly clay on the nose to me. Plus this like funky cheesiness, more like manchego
Palate & Finish: Mint chocolate, watermelon rind, light citrus, whipped cocoa, coconut milk, earthy and clay from the clay pot, it has a slight hazelnut cream cheese element, then a little bbq sauce, tangy honey peppers. Finish is white pepper, eucalyptus, holiday spices, and Chile chocolate, espresso. Finish stays forever. Just minty and cocoa like an Andes mint.
This stuff is awesome. Plenty of karwinskii profile going on here but beautifully balanced with clay bringing chocolate and espresso.
Batch: 8M23-A
Nose: This has a nice Cuishe woodiness to it, layered with earth and mossy wood. Mulch, BBQ chips. It’s distinctly clay on the nose to me. Plus this like funky cheesiness, more like manchego
Palate & Finish: Mint chocolate, watermelon rind, light citrus, whipped cocoa, coconut milk, earthy and clay from the clay pot, it has a slight hazelnut cream cheese element, then a little bbq sauce, tangy honey peppers. Finish is white pepper, eucalyptus, holiday spices, and Chile ch
Imperium
112 reviewsNose: beautiful, cooked agave and molasses. Classic car upholstery. Chocolate cream pie with butter crust. The wet limestone smell of caverns inside a mountain. A cookfire in a mountain pass.
Palate: Chocolate and chocolate whipped cream that gradually turns green and vegetal. Stones. I feel like I’m on a journey in the Old West. The clay pot distillation really comes out in this one and gives it such a unique, earthy feel.
This is an amazing expression unlike anything I’ve had.
Nose: beautiful, cooked agave and molasses. Classic car upholstery. Chocolate cream pie with butter crust. The wet limestone smell of caverns inside a mountain. A cookfire in a mountain pass.
Palate: Chocolate and chocolate whipped cream that gradually turns green and vegetal. Stones. I feel like I’m on a journey in the Old West. The clay pot distillation really comes out in this one and gives it such a unique, earthy feel.
This is an amazing expression unlike anything I’ve had.
darnell lorenzo
1 reviewSweet on the nose with hints of hay and flowers. The taste definitely has the mineral notes from the barro distillation, which I really enjoy! A nice touch of salinity, rounded out by a tropical fruit sweetness and a hint of banana from the fermentation.
It smells and tastes like west Texas moments before a rainstorm.
Picked up this bottle at Mezcalia in CDMX and would 10 out of 10 recommend the bottle and the shop. Unfortunately no Batch or Lot number on the bottle.
James Christian
46 reviewsBarril 2017, 22 of (946??)
Probably my favorite Mezcal right now. Zack got it perfect – clay, chocolate, flowers, smoke. This drinks like a really sophisticated mountain grown chocolate. It’s wet and earthy and balanced and has so much to say. The finish is all in the nose where the clay and lavender really come out from the cocoa notes. Then at the very end all the vegetal flavors come out and it turns a different direction. Absolutely love this.
CasaDeGuero
21 reviewsHas a fun funkiness to the taste but ends a bit bitter for my taste. Still a very good Mezcal.
T-2 of 4 tried in Limantour in CDMX.
tallchad
122 reviewsFound this one at Cantina Mayahuel in San Diego. WOW!!! Rating more like 4.75.
Right off the bat clay and minerals on the aroma. Some spiciness and pepper too. My daughter says it smells like her apron from ceramics class. That makes sense. As it opened up I began to get citrus, definitely orange and grapefruit and some light strawberry.
Ok I thought the aroma was great… The taste is incredible! A great blend of minerality, earthiness and fruit. Just the right amount of smoke—very light. Super thick and oily mouth feel.
The finish fades slowly and lingers nicely. Very balanced and wonderful overall. This is an advanced Mezcal that everyone can enjoy. If you find this one somewhere, try it!
ABV 47.1%
2017, bottle 679
Found this one at Cantina Mayahuel in San Diego. WOW!!! Rating more like 4.75.
Right off the bat clay and minerals on the aroma. Some spiciness and pepper too. My daughter says it smells like her apron from ceramics class. That makes sense. As it opened up I began to get citrus, definitely orange and grapefruit and some light strawberry.
Ok I thought the aroma was great… The taste is incredible! A great blend of minerality, earthiness and fruit. Just the right amount of smoke—very light
JoeVandal
10 reviewsLot: Barril2017
Bottle 193/446
50.2%
Damn. Creamy, Cherries, Chocolate, oily, clay, minerals, mint, earth. This is a special bottle. Was just introduced to Lalocura a couple weeks ago and I’ve only had a couple bottles. This may be my favorite right now.
PedroDLHR
10 reviewsI got to try this mezcal on Saturday, and it was a big surprise. I immediately captured the chocolate, berry, and other fruity aromas. There are some rear clay notes. It has very complex layers of flavors which are present from start to the very end. It was really good experience.
Zack Klamn
542 reviewsNose – Chocolate cake batter. Olive oil. Blooming lavender.
Palate – A 5 star restaurant chocolate mousse whipped with clay. This stuff is so good that I had to pause, waiting for my eyes to roll back, take in a bit of air and prolong every precious millisecond.
El Dawg
227 reviews2017 Distillation, 47.1% ABV
Clay, strawberry fruit rollup smell. Tase is delicate & not overpowering. Lots of fruit, clay is balanced & smooth & tangy. 4.25
Review #117
TheAgaveFairy
169 reviewsNose: Baked sweet breads with nuts in it – nearly banana bread. Mixed berries, yeast, some gentle yogurt / sour cream. Parfait! More ashy grassy starchy karwinskii character now. Keeps evolving. Toasted peppercorns, cinnamon, walnuts.
Palate: Dark, earthy, menacing clay karwinskii with leather and tobacco on top of the baked starches and nuts and maybe hint of banana bread. Parfait appears closer to the finish before it fades furthest on vanilla, white chocolate, banana leaf, ash.
Thoughts: Much more dark than the other two, more classic. I wanna try this next to the Vago Barril en Barro! Just a touch peppery and ashy.
Nose: Baked sweet breads with nuts in it – nearly banana bread. Mixed berries, yeast, some gentle yogurt / sour cream. Parfait! More ashy grassy starchy karwinskii character now. Keeps evolving. Toasted peppercorns, cinnamon, walnuts.
Palate: Dark, earthy, menacing clay karwinskii with leather and tobacco on top of the baked starches and nuts and maybe hint of banana bread. Parfait appears closer to the finish before it fades furthest on vanilla, white chocolate, banana leaf, ash.
Thoughts: Mu
aarild
153 reviewsNo batch unfortunately.
Smells of slate and wet, fresh wood, faint aroma of dried flowers — something between lavender and chamomile. Mineral on the palate at first, leather and nutty. At first you think it is something barrel aged but it quickly changes to sweet French praline, lemon succade, fading with leather and something you have never had on your tongue before, only smelled in an old antiquity store. Otherworldly.
Edit: I’ve tried four different batches eventually and just found D-01-19 in Europe — labelled as a destilado rather than as Mezcal. Consistent across all batches though. Faultless.
No batch unfortunately.
Smells of slate and wet, fresh wood, faint aroma of dried flowers — something between lavender and chamomile. Mineral on the palate at first, leather and nutty. At first you think it is something barrel aged but it quickly changes to sweet French praline, lemon succade, fading with leather and something you have never had on your tongue before, only smelled in an old antiquity store. Otherworldly.
Edit: I’ve tried four different batches eventually and just found D-01-
meserole
73 reviewsVery salty, and I admit being influenced by other reviewers but I do have to co-sign the soy sauce comparison. There is a borderline seafood brine to this, but it’s so incredibly smooth and unique it’s hard to believe this is a 48% abv spirit.
Perhaps not my “desert island” companion, but I can’t help but commend a singular bottle that would stand out in a tasting among dozens.
Purchased a bottle from the palenque, distilled December 2020, no lot number.
Very salty, and I admit being influenced by other reviewers but I do have to co-sign the soy sauce comparison. There is a borderline seafood brine to this, but it’s so incredibly smooth and unique it’s hard to believe this is a 48% abv spirit.
Perhaps not my “desert island” companion, but I can’t help but commend a singular bottle that would stand out in a tasting among dozens.
Purchased a bottle from the palenque, distilled December 2020, no lot number.
Juriy
23 reviewsThis one is definitely more on a mineral side, immediately salty. Not oily, not sweet, not bitter, tastes almost like… Worcestershire sauce? 🙂 Agree with others on having those soy sauce notes. Good pairing for the oysters?
Might be my least favorite Lalocura.
Meady
53 reviewsComplex. Magical. Faultless.
Brahh
11 reviewsOne of my favorites of lalocura
kozinnski
14 reviewsCreamy, berries, mint, nuts, forest floor, graphite, eucalyptus. Deeply complex, just incredible.
GreenspointTexas
385 reviewsYeah, i dunno if I really get the love for this one. Not what i was hoping initially…. muddled flavors and an alcohol burn that is unpleasant. Need to revisit before I write anymore. The flavors/smell are great, but cant give this five stars. 4.25/5