Recent reviews

Quite a bit dust and acetone aromas. Also a brief hint of tar like an Islay whisky, some leather. Well rounded on the palate. Hint of melon and bitter almond, allspice, light smoke, lightly smoked. Pretty good structure and lingering aftertaste of roasted agave and fresh sugarcane like you get from rhum agricole.

LOTE: 6
Bottle 973/1350
03/19
48% ABV

Initial nasal impact is drying with a slight prickle.
Aroma of papaya, ancho pepper, honey, eucalyptus, pineapple.
A coating mouthfeel, buttery with sufficient alcohol and sweet.
Cooked agave and papaya stand out on the flavor, followed by honey, pepper, stone fruit. Some minty eucalyptus, vanilla, earth, mineral and a hint of watermelon. Long finish with some charred oak providing the smoke. Nice combination of cupreata and alto agaves. Slightly complex. Good balance. I really enjoy mezcal and tequila from Michoacan. Derrumbes once again gives a quality mezcal at a very approachable price.

Gigantes Batch Two
Proof: 44.9%
Bottle: 87 of 150

Nose: Wet earth, stewed agave, round, and vegetal with some cheese. No alcohol burn whatsoever

Palate: Immediately fully coating and mouthwatering. Very viscous and luxurious.

Flavors: Very fatty stewed green veggies and funk. Caramelized green bell peppers (if that were a thing), canned stewed cactus, loads of pure agave, beautiful lingering soft smoke throughout.

Finish: Keeps on going like a long winding desert road

It’s really freakin delicious.

Lot #1, Bottle #1
Agave = Salmiana
Proof = 47.4%
Mezcalero = Martin Hernandez
Brick Oven, Tahona, Pine Wood, Clay Pot

Nose – Funky salt and vinegar chips with barbecue sauce. After the first taste, the nose goes all the way up and turns into a lingering sweet mouth drop scent.

Palate – mouthwatering with a spicy tingle heat way in the top back of the throat.

Flavors – salt and vinegar, a bit of bone broth, and stewed vegetables, maybe leeks and ramps. It’s earthy and funky and wet…. TOTALLY my kind of thing!

Finish – This is my only ding. The finish falls off after a few seconds and is just… gone

It definitely carries some of the typical San Luis Potosí Salmiana cooked green agave notes, and it also has this clay pot funky funk (almost Papalome-ish) that makes it really interesting.

This punches well above it’s price range and sits side-by-side with Sintedos, Lalocura, Real Minero….etc. It is a new brand and has a LOT more to say in the future.

Batch CENC – 2/23/2022
Maguey Cenizo (agave Durangesis)
Proof – 54%
Mescaleros – Enrique y Federico De la Cruz
Pine Wood, underground oven, axe, copper

Nose – Some balsamic, tart berry

Palate – A bit hot and dry at first, but then it coats and settles down.

Flavors – WOW ok…. tart strawberry jolly rancher, red hots, a bit of fresh farm cream… so much going on here.

Finish – long and sustained level of light smoke and mild heat throughout.

For a durangesis this is on a whole other level.

Batch 120 IRM
Agave Inaquidens
Proof (rubbed off… guessing 46%
MEzcalero – Isidro Rodriiguez

Nose – A fresh cucumber and lime spritz on a hot summer day.

Palate – instantly coats the entire mouth, then there is a tiny bit of heat n the sides of the tongue. Very warming effect, but not HOT.

Flavors – More watermelon and citrus zest candy than cucumber. The more I try it, the more Meyer lemon comes out. Some slight yeast/toast in there….

This might be a perfect mezcal for me. It’s balanced, big, complex, and incredibly drinkable.

Delicious, it’s sweet like their Espadín with chocolate and French praliné notes (candied nuts). Well structured as you’d expect from this label, great clay/flint minerality.

Newer offering from Vago (Emigdio Jarquin)
53% Mexicano
36% Arroqueño
11% Bicuishe
Tahona/Copper,
617 L, 51.5% ABV
Fruity nose – think boozy pineapple and the mexicano shines through with some grit.
Alcohol is decently integrated
Definitely nuanced, nice texture and very long.
Thankfully I procured a bottle so I’ll revisit this again shortly.

Sergio Juárez Patricio
San Luis Amatengo
2.3 tons ~15 years old
October 2019
Single pass “Refrescadera”
170 L total; 45.7%
Tall bottle – not the original bottling that was so highly regarded here.
Tough to nail down.
On the nose it’s got this spicy, gently smoked agricole rum vibe. Bruised tropical fruit and dried coconut.
On the palate it’s sort of like a really really strong, floral, Pina colada without the sweetness. Finish is long and vibrating on the tongue.
Good, but I’d love to have tried their first rendition.

Edition 5, 2019 bot # 29/185

Nose: Pretty classic A. Karwinskii. So much minerality but still classy mezcal. Vegetal.
Palate: Hot and heavy. You get the booze but also thankfully the extraction and as a result-crazy long finish. Great, explosive mouthfeel. Almost spicy. Definitely not for the untrained tongue. A bit floral too honestly.

Solid 4.25

Batch September 2019 – Mouth numbing pepper, mid level smokiness and great quality corn tortillas. Would like to have another bottle of this one.

Ok Tyler… here goes. I decided to get one of my bottles to compare on the spot.

Lot 3, 01-2000, bottle 156 of 500

Nose: that good ole cheesy Venenosa profile… a little “wet infantry socks in the swamp” (Bit not as much as the El Tigre!)

Taste: VERY CREAMY! I love how it goes in the mouth and swells with that lactic yogurt thing. Then it calms down considerably, and I get more custard notes.

10000% agree that this gets killed with higher ABV spirits before. This is the starter. I think trying it with a very light flan would be interesting.

Kind of muted flavors at first. However I’m sipping this after some higher ABV mezcals so that might not be fair. It has some rustic raicilla cheese funk which is awesome. Greek yogurt clean lactic notes. Definitely a fan just try it earlier in the evening. The price is a bit high but it’s also one of the most unique batches of agave spirits that you’ll ever encounter. Date 01-2000, lot 3, bottle 4-500.

A special batch that is super approachable and delicious. Notes of sweet pine, Red Hots candy coating, Sunny D, and rock candy. Would be fun to try this next to their regular Cupreata release. If you see it, try it.

Judging by the prior reviews, this was a polarizing mezcal. Sadly for me, my palate was on the downside for it. I just couldn’t get past the funky richness and, to me, off-putting flavor. I set it aside after two tastings and let it sit for a while, hoping my tastes would expand or the bottle change a bit, but no go.This one was not for me.

Steamed pinas instead of roasted, a sugar/honey derived from the steam process used to bolster the fermentation, a single distillation…unique in so many ways.

While it has the volatility I expected from a 60abv Puntas, it delivers it in an elegant fashion; heated but not burning. Flavor notes of cherry, a bit of menthol, some minerality and brown sugar. Long lingering flavor finishes that justify taking your time as you experience a veladora of this one. Really enjoyable.

Lot A003
It’s decent for the price. it has saved me at shitty bars when there was no good mezcal or tequila, and thrice I found this lurking in the corner of the back bar.
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Almost no nose compared to more complex sotols.Viscous mouthfeel. Definitely has a pine and herbaceous start to the flavors, but then they just plain fall off a cliff. No finish. Not many mid-taste flavors either. Unlike the previous reviewer, I get ZERO bite whatsoever.

Bottle: 277

Delicious stuff. Pickle juice, watermelon rind, and faint flavor of strawberry. Green aromas with light smoke. A dash of eucalyptus and mint. And hearty cucumber. Does taste quite a bit different from a tepeztate, but I am not complaining. Sign me up for more pichomels from Puebla!

Batch: YJ08-19 Bottle 1249/2880

Orange peel, clove and all spice on the nose. Taste is mint on top of blue Weber agave. It’s alright. The flavors don’t compliment each other enough.

ABV 44%, No Batch Info

I picked up this raicilla from Ramirez liquor in Los Angeles. The costas vs. the sierras have some definite differences in flavor profiles and aromas. This Sierra has wet sponge, pine tar, juniper, and an artificial sweetener on the nose. The flavors are tart lemon, lemon verbena, herbal and mint undertones, underripe blueberry, pine and dried out lumber, week-old flower bouquet, and a drying mouthfeel. Mild to low heat and spiciness. I don’t get some of that cheesy funk that folks tend to associate with raicillas in general and maximilianas in particular. Enjoyable and a pleasant sipper.