Wild nose; fruit platter all the way. strawberries, raspberries, underripe melon…possibly just kiwi with a splash of citrus??
palate is all cardamom pods, kiwi, slate. I think i’m a little underwhelmed because this reminds me of a Scandinavian cardamom bun…but then fall a little short.
siting with it, wild how much cardamom comes through. ends up actually lingering. Cardamom and refit lime, even the numbing of timur pepper going on. this is a 3.5-4, but I’ll give it a 4 since some moments of intense cardamom are 5 level flavor extractions.
apples, kippers, fennel, cut grass, slate. I like this one! reviews were getting me worried, but this is doing it just fine for me. very happy that Maguey is wiling to bottle up all these fun non mezcals as of late
yuppppp. I’ve said it before and will say it again. High proof agave is where its at. everything is made heavy. heavy white flower, heavy vanilla rugalach, heavy petrichor. some chocolate, maybe some cinnamon. sweet and condensed. Yes, its hotter than most. but man this is a tasty one.
Salty smoke, watermelon/dragon fruit/other water based flavored fruits lol.
a bit of a freshly painted room.
Also insanely grassy and green on the nose. not enjoying this one
From the taster.
golden raisins, sweet herbs, slate. at first I was confused at all the folks saying cigar…but I actually have one at home for the first time in who knows how long. And spot on! an unlit one of course. Marrs orange peel.
This is oh so warm, and very up my alley. green mangoes, fennel seed, sugar cane, cumin, clove. I’m not picking up much on the nose. overall enjoyable and something I wish I had a bit more of
I agree with many of the notes here around “clean”…dryer sheets (amazing call), laundry, fabric softener, etc. but its leaning a bit too clean vibed for me. Good, but not something I’ll reach for again.
Batch 1118AC from a Drammers tasting set.
Insane all around. Arak meets cucumbers meets green flowers meets…soemthing sweet and barrel aged.
aniseed, lavender, black pepper, pickled peppercorns, tamarind, candied lime peel. Oyster??? there’s a teeny bit of seafood. But I think I’m trying to find too much; just let it be known that this is delicious.
Woah! totally different than what I’ve has so far.
Nose: watermelon rind, distant warm spices (clove, cardamom), new car, dry erase marker (just tested that one with a green expo! lol). maybe some wet stone (get that a lot w mezcal so it could just be me). teeniest bit of a wood fire
Mouth: cucumber (especially those tiny ones that look like small watermelons), turmeric, underripe banana. vanilla; in a sweet way that reminds me of what oak does for bourbon.This one is from a tasting pack via Drammers, from Batch 1019IRM
Batch CLM10 (45.5%)
This is a bottle to buy your friend who says they don’t like Mezcal. light and refreshing but still delicate and full of flavor. Easy to keep on a shelf and therefore probably should be a mainstay on bars all over. Honeydew (with the same level of sweetness), lime juice, not really much more. But still delicious and at a low/no smoke point. Not to be repetitive, but this is st you should buy for your friend (if you’re on this site Iassume you’re a bit of a nerd); but your friend probably isn’t, but they might like drinking. This tastes good on its own and will mix stupid well.
Another beautiful one. Limes dipped in curry powder. Cumin, cardamom, turmeric, anise. Lemon verbena, lime zest. omg…is this what an Amba & Mezcal cocktail would taste like???
Damn. this is gorgeous. Floral, mineral forward, mango, maybe macadamia nuts or other really fatty nut. sweet herbs (mints, verbenas, thai basil). something truly truly beautiful for all levels of agave enjoyers
Edit after a few weeks: came back and on the nose I’m getting lots of fruit I don’t recall getting before. Bruleed then dried bananas? stuff like that. Still delightful, keeping it at a 5. Insane that this could come fro the same agave as your run of the mill tequila
Batch ART-ENS-001. 50%. Also came in a 60.9% taster bottle which I will add later on. I believe there is a typo on the bottle; says it is an ensemble of 6 magueys, but I think it may be 7. Anywho, on to the review!
Nose: Pecorino, wet grass, charcoal on said wet grass, smoked salmon, grilled banana.
Taste: goes a whole different direction. Fruit, brown sugar, butter. Honeydew, pineapple, mint, banana, vanilla. syrupy even (are residual sugars a thing in distilled spirits?)
So fun. nose and taste are pretty unrelated, but overall i am a fan. Excited to come back for the higher proof one.Taster: we need more 60+ proof mezcals. Whisky can’t be having all the fun! its just everything turned up a bunch, with incredibly well integrated alcohol. Imma give the taster a 4.5-5. Cheers!
Batch CAR-CHO-001, 49.9%
First Mezcal in a little while, so bear with me.
nose: distant sage, fresh concrete, slate, white chocolate? one of the more subdued i’ve had from MM
Taste: orange peel, salted watermelon rind, salt spray, slate, white pepper.Pulled back and extremely clean; the quality is undoubtedly there. There is perhaps a slight burn, but otherwise drinks smoothly. Not the most interesting or unique from MM, but tasty nonetheless
Edited after a bit of time open and not after a long hiatus from agave. This is delicious, and once again a pulled back and refined bottle from MM. Everything I said before still stands for me, but something else has come out to play as well. A slight smokiness and a super duper dark, vegetal honey (i once had “avocado” honey, where the bees only really had access to pollen from avo plants. dark as molasses and vegetal. This is like that. A distinctly non commercial honey vibe). MM continues to delight, and has non stop superb bottles. Can’t wait for the next batch
Dropped the rating on 9/30/21. just not loving it right now
Tons of flowers, red bell pepper. blander tropical fruit (dragon, papaya). super duper clean. This ones for when you’re having oysters or raw scallop or st like that. light, bright as fuck. High level of minerality, light in texture. Some sharp white pepper, lemongrass, wheatgrass, lime zest. another wonderful one from MM
WOW.
Savory, charcoal, BBQ, smoked poultry. Bbq pringles, BBQ potato chips. Will have to revisit this to pull out some more, but just wow on this level of smokey savory while still being clean!
Lot 21, 05/19, Bottle 1154/1750. 43.9% abv
First off, the nose. Insane levels of jalapeño, freshly cut, focusing on the green flesh here. possibly something pickled. By something, we can only mean a jalapeño. Jalapeño in many forms I’d say.
The jalapeño doesn’t go anywhere when you start drinking. Maybe a bit of that bison grass vodka. a bit salty. As it sits in my cup, some hard aged cheese notes come out on the nose. the pickle idea turns to brine, and olives take center stage.
Comes out to a tune I don’t love, but give it some air and that one note goes on to add a few more. Definitely not sad to have a 750 of this
After a few releases that leaned into the funkier sides of things, this release from MM is anything but. Insanely refined, leaning dessert vibes. Orange peels, white chocolate, marjoram, cardamom. Nose adds in some more citrus zest (limes probably), maybe even bits of lime leaf and lemongrass?. White flowers, other lighter flowers, and just all round wonderful. Wow
Date 06-17, Lot 01.
Nose is funky: fennel, a bag of charcoal, cut grass, some underripe apples.
Taste: smooth and easy to work with, more underripe apples and just barely a hint of vanilla.
Overall, quite nice. not challenging at all, but also not interesting. Would be easy to incorporate into a drink; but also to introduce someone who wants a cleaner, less nuanced drink.
Accidentally reached for this rain after a pair from another producer. Will add this one to the mixing shelf, just not for me
Love this. balanced levels of sweet and minerality. Nose gives u a bit of star anise and cut stone. Mouth has the same + underripe stone fruit and a bit of eucalyptus. delightful