Recent reviews

Nose: Brighter, grassier, fruitier, lime. About as fruity as I’ve ever had from Lalo – a little plantain and key lime pie and papaya. Some bread sticks in there too, hints of chocolate chunks, lightly nutty. Runtz candies! Grilled watermelon.

Palate: Another great lime-creamsicle entry, watermelon Jolly Rancher, some butter and nuts and lemon sauce, yeast… then yet again the clay and minerality dry out the finish and take over, lightly ashy here as well.

Thoughts: Similar to the tob-tob, lots of great moments on the entry but a clay dominated finish. A little hotter and thinner than the tob-tob, worse finish.

LOT#: YJ21-20, Bottle#: 749/5100
Nose – Cinnamon apple. Blackberry. Clove. Heavy fragrance of fruits and spices but can’t pick up the turkey pechuga aspect. Very inviting nevertheless.

Palate – This doesn’t make good on the promise on the nose. A lot of pine. Fruits/spices are there but accompanied by soapy, ethanol flavors. The meat component isn’t there for me either. I really want to like this more. This is a mid-range priced mezcal but you’re better off committing extra money to move into a premium pechuga option (i.e. Cinco Sentidos).

Its not what im used to. Pretty peppery like Greg said. Dunno if time is going to help this one. Not really feeling this one. Will have to re-evaluate. Also, nose is briney/pickle-ish and taste has none of that. Odd

What the…?!?! Somehow this is more mango then an actual mango. This is like you are sipping the entire mango plant. The skin, the seed, the flesh, the leaves, the earth that the tree is growing in. This is like taking a bite out of the ancestral god mango. I absolutely love this.

This is just beautiful. Light, herbal, and floral this is a real crowd pleaser. What a great example of what Agave Azul can taste like!! Apricots, frangipani flowers, fresh ripe mango, canned pears, lavender, and lemon verbena. I can already tell this bottle is going to go quick.

This is the third Sacatoro I’ve had from Guerrero and they’ve all had this delicious deep dark sweetness to them. Prune juice, Fig Newtons, fresh cut lumber, Mango Kerns Nectar, strawberry pie filling, and almond butter. I can’t wait for more Sacatoro Mezcals to hit the states! Guerrero makes some incredible Mezcal!!

Delicious! Drying tobacco leaves, dark brown sugar, mexican hot chocolate, Thompsons raisins, and pineapple syrup. I really want a full bottle of this one.

Lot 1LEC20. It’s really hard for me to rate this one. This is one of those chameleon Mezcals that changes flavors every time I taste it. I just sat down for the third time with this one and at first I taste leather and cinnamon oil, not the warm baking spices cinnamon that I taste often in Mezcals but the harsh spicy cinnamon oil we used to make cinnamon toothpicks with in grade school. Then as I scribble down my notes I take another sip and those flavors are gone and replaced with briny vegetal notes like green olives and green beans. On my third sip I taste rubber, burnt match, coconut flesh, and walnuts. As I finish my copita all I can taste is Apple Jolly Rancher. Crazy! I really enjoy tasting this one because it’s constantly challenging but I don’t see myself reaching for it too often. An extra point for uniqueness. I can’t wait to try future releases from this brand.

I could be treating this bottle unfairly, after a couple of very intense mezcals. Nice aroma with pine and a bit herbal funk. Mint, quince and green pepper (piperaceae, not green chili). Medium aftertaste. Surprisingly strong for 43,5% abv.

Great ensamble, simply. You couldn’t tell if it’s copper or clay pot from the aromas, but there is a great mineral touch regardless. Sweetness from espadin with aromas of quince, coconut and banana. Great balance, a bit short aftertaste although full and rich.

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.

Lot A84: The bottles are very interesting and would be a fun gift. This Tepezatate is along the lines of Banhez, Bozal, for me but I found it at a Costco for about $70 so considering the price this gets a bump. Vegetal notes are there albeit not with the punch I get out of other more exciting expressions (Reina Sanchez/Victor Ramos). On the back end some pickled veggies and little tart/dry/sour. For the price – its a great find. However, if you’re in the $100+ price point you may want to consider another option.

A tad under 4 stars. A slight malt vinegar taste on the finish… maybe soy sauce. Otherwise, reminds me of the recent Margarito/Mezcaloteca Madrecuishe. Mouthfeel is slightly ‘buzzy’ with lavender and hibiscus.

Sweet w/ a green, peppery spice. Soft & delicate with solid sweetness throughout. A Unique tobala compared to what I’m used to tasting. A 2oz sample, and I didn’t grab the lot number. Very comparable to the tepeztate, and not sure out of the two I’ve tried, which one I prefer.
Review #110.

Lot 1LEC20. The nose has some herbal notes of basil, anise, and bay leaves. More aromas of white chocolate, peppermint, and chlorine. The palate has lots of anise, horseradish, cracked pepper, butterscotch, and brine. High complexity and a bit intense. I actually didn’t like this at all when I first opened the bottle, but it’s growing on me.

Batch AE-XXSAV. Elegant. Beautiful. Lovely. Aromas of bubblegum, lavender, fresh flowers on the breeze, and a bit of moth balls. The palate is velvety with more bubblegum, vanilla, tobacco, and a touch of spearmint. This is seriously reminiscent of one of my all time favorite Madrecuishe, Mezcalero No. 16, also from Don Valente. This is just so soft and delicate.

Mal Bien – Espadin 45.5%
Batch: CLM12

First sniff gets you a lot of roasted agave, cedar and citrus scents and it all works together in balance. No one scent dominates.

91 proof Mezcal that is smooth and easily consumed. Lovely smokey taste without any acrid intensity. The bottle was at 73F and the patio was a roasty 105F which made this room temperature Mezcal refreshingly cool in comparison. Initial sweet flavours of agave followed by a sourness that developed along the sides of my mouth and hung around for a long finish that included some black pepper and leather flavours.

This is an excellent value and is such a good sipper, I don’t think I’d ever want to mix this into a cocktail.

CAS-T 15/04/20
48% $__

Color:

Nose: More tamarind, more candied oranges, coffee grounds, not far from the above. A few more herbal notes, mint, cornbread, grilled watermelon. More earth. Stealing a note from those below, I get the “creamed corn”.

Palate: A little more “Angustifolia” than the [gentry sample from this producer] but my oh my that’s only because I know and have a reference point on hand. Some heat on entry. Those warm sweet spices explode on the finish with a waft of vanilla. A little more grip to the texture, a wonderful “florality” I’ll call coconut blossom for now. Very tail end has some earth.

Thoughts: Out of this world, what a great gateway to the wonderful world of Nuevo Leon.

Conclusion and “t8ke” scale rating: 7/10. Tempted to go to an 8. Every sip is different.

Tried recently in Australia. For what this is and the price point it’s perfect for an everyday sipper and excellent in cocktails. Lower ABV makes it so approachable.

Sweet up front with a balanced smoked agave flavour, some light caramel flavour. Yum.

Nose: Subdued, watery, less herbaceous than expected but still with some basil and green peppercorn back there. Still smells of SdV, massive clay and agave. Americana from SdV is just really unique to me. There’s some similar fruit but less brightness and lactic notes, a little more floral (good white pepper, coconut) compared to the dryer sheets of above.

Palate: Balance, control, good texture. Nearly simplistic, hot, creamy. Oh shit, did I already say that? Some cream cheese on the finish, less acrid, but more clay dominated with some sour / acidic tones like lime juice helping with the nearly salty minerality. A touch hot and floral.