Recent reviews

Nose – Vanilla. Mandarin orange. Subtle pine wood.

Palate – A bit of an oily feel but nice. Rose petal. Leather. Pine wood burst in the finish. Good stuff. ABV – 48%

batch: SEM-BAR-001
bottle: 15
abv: 46%

a gold-standard barril. jonny nailed the tasting notes, including and especially the nod to don valente. ++ ripe honeydew melon and dr. pepper.

This Tobala is an earthy, herbal smokebomb that goes down with a satisfying burn. A real treat. LOT: TOB-0418 Btl 337/360.

batch: SEM-ARR-001
bottle: 83
abv: 49.2%

different notes from the other amigos here, perhaps due to a few extra years in the bottle. will circle back once it breathes a bit.

a thick coating of goat cheese and sour lactic funk prevails. too slowly, it gives way to delicate layers of butterscotch, mint and pepper that flutter softly in fleeting moments of greatness.

ADE-MAD-001 April 2021, 56.7%, Bottle #733

Nose – Smells like a big fat Sharpie marker. A hint of some fish oil, and some faint notes of wet asphalt, coconut, and Pina coladas.

Palate – Vibrant and citrusy, followed by some bitterness. Like chewing on a rubber band coated in agave syrup. Think orange rind.

Finish – The fruity and citrus notes from the main palate turn a bit quirky, reminiscent of raisins.

It’s sweet with a bit of heat. Very enjoyable, but not special. It’s good.

As an Automotive Technician I work a lot with fuel and whatnot. As soon as you open this bottle you get the immediate smell of RAW 91 Octane Fuel, it also tastes like fuel. This bottle Costs me $55, and man that was a waste of money. Now I dont even want to drink this anymore. Do not buy unless you love fuel.

A touch rough on the first sip then mellows out a bit but retains some spiciness. A little bitter for my taste and not a lot of terroir. Okay overall.

Enjoying this more than the maestra’s Cuishe release. Weird nose, a bit like rotting fruit. Similar sour smoke notes but some of the sweetness saves it for me. Slight sour apple juice on the finish. I rarely find a Tobala I like and this is just ok.

Series 5 2019, 46.4%

Nose – A lot of sweetness and smoke. Like barbecue sauce. Subtle aromas of an extinguished fire, and hints of chemical notes like glue, linoleum, and gas.

Palate – Bright, spicy, and very smoky. An opening of herbal sweetness that’s reminiscent of licorice, then followed by some bitterness where heavy overtones of smoke take over. This is like chewing on an orange rind after having some tobacco and wet cigarettes. A bit overbearing at times and perhaps a little too smoky.

Finish – All that orange rind leaves us with a bittersweet and dry exit.

It’s cumbersome but overall still complex. A decent Espadin, but below average for Rezpiral and Berta.

the nose reminds me of juicy fruit gum but in a reserved way.the palate has a dark soil rich earth vibe.some subtle sweet tea notes.some sweet flower nectar on the finish.wonderful!nice mellow heat.its what a sotol should be.was hard to find but wotrh it.

Batch: M5-001K
May 2018 by Gonzalo Martinez Sernas
237/360

This is delicious mezcal.

On the nose its creamy karwinskii fragrances, some copper salinity from the barril balances with greenness, banana and grape.

The palate is full of notes of juicy green goodness that morphs into chocolate and fruit and coppery minerality. Fantastic mixture of different karwinskii magueys.

bottle: 145
abv: 47.6%

bold and beautiful. orange vanilla creamsicle on a summer lawn. fresh-cut grass and floral bouquets waft through the air. later, you catch a whiff of mothballs and find remnants of a spontaneous bonfire: smoldering coals, wood, ash and bits of rubber.

Nose is less floral and more petrol forward than I expect in a Madrecuixe. First sip is bracingly sweet, toothpaste level menthol into candied papaya. Very rich and gentle mouthfeel. Spicy cinnamon finish. Relatively desirable notes, but to me the spirit itself reads as so sweet to the palate that it blankets the redeeming qualities. A good pour for someone looking to explore mezcal a bit more; it may beget excitement while remaining approachable, but it isn’t one I’m excited to revisit. Maybe for dessert.

Dirty, watery, “wormy”. Getting the vibe of weird cheap Oaxaca mezcal fermented near a gas station. Zack nails it with musty. Some folks might dig this but it reminds me too much of ‘con gusano’ mezcals I’ve tried.. something about the flavor profile is similar.

For extra context (not that you asked).. I ordered the 5 mini-bottle tasting set in February 2022 and am finally sipping through these. Only now am I realizing they used 100ml bottles and fill them halfway! The label says 50ml to be fair but I wonder if all that air influenced the tiny pour. Really hoping all the samples aren’t “skunked” so to speak. I hope the other ones are better. Also the QR code on this mini-bottle didn’t work but I’m assuming it is the same release.

Tasting at Erick’s house in CDMX in 2023.

The best expression of tobasiche I’ve ever had. So juicy and good. It just contained all the flavors that a good karwinskii should have, both green and woody, nutty and fruity. I wish I had gotten a bottle but went with the salmiana and coyote instead.

Tasting at Erick’s house in CDMX in 2023. There were two versions, one was a lot funkier than the other. I found it similar to the offering from 5 Sentidos, one of my favorites.
A fruity start leads into a fruit punch blast with heat and pepper, with a mineral finish. Extremely good mezcal.

Nose is clean, green and creamy with maybe a little grape soda.
Palate is soft and creamy mouthfeel that’s to Lalo’s signature clay style. Green, nutty, and smooth. Understandable why it’s so popular.
Surprisingly very spicy finish, like I just bit into a jalapeño. I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Tasty green nose with hints of blueberry as others mentioned.
The taste has that great bright madrecuixe flavor that I love. Similar to the Vago from Emigdio Jacquin. Green, peppery, a little fruity and trunk-y.

Nose is very bright, but taste is even more so. Super citrus and a bit sour. Anise is super prominent. Finish tastes a bit like Dr. Pepper. Not really my thing.

Bottle LT0825
This was beautiful. Drank with friends on a camping trip. Fruity, gentle smoke, medium to full bodied. Had an amazing aroma. I will pick up another bottle and keep around for emergencies.