Nose: Fresh peppers, citrusy, more lime than lemon but both there, brine and minerality, sour patch lemon. After it sits a minute I get some barnyard funk.

Palate: It has this almost creaminess to it at first, like a key lime or lemon meringue, but then that dissipates quickly into a finish of bitter grapefruit, raw vegetal, green bell peppers, and earth. Finish is charred jalapeno, salted citrus and soil

Consistent Salmiana at a great price. Can’t beat that

ABV: 49.5%

Nose: Extremely veggie, vinegary zucchini, slightly sour and lactic, lime, fresh bagged leaves, pickles spears, pine trees

Palate & Finish: While many madrecuixe have wood this is like green briny wood on the shoreline, very tangy brine and citrus, mustard, citrusy grapefruit juice, honey peppers, popsicle stick, sauerkraut, coleslaw, tart kiwi. Finish is more lemon lime and eucalyptus. South Carolina mustard based bbq sauce, slight back pepper on the backend, as it sits it becomes a bit chocolate

More mustardy and briney than I expected. Nose is a bit unique and incredibly vegetal. I can’t stop thinking about that stale vegetal smell of picking up slightly damp leaves in the fall. Good stuff

2023 ABV: 48%

Nose: Lemon lime, firewood, rotten banana skins, limeade, mango

Palate: Beautiful bitter citrus. Sweet mango, cucumber lemon water, tons of minerality on the back, chalk, grapefruit, lemon chalk candy, bitter basil. Finish is white pepper, chalky bitterness, cranberry bitterness, lemons, cut grass, lemongrass, more grapefruit and some bitter leatheriness

I enjoy this. I love the chalky bitterness and citrus together. Good stuff

Lot 3 ABV: 49.8%

Nose: Light minerality. vanilla and coconut comes on after sitting. Earthy Pear, rosemary and thyme

Palate: Peppered mangoes, mouthfeel is bit creamy with almost some coconut, bell peppers, green veggies. kiwi, maybe some pineapple. It has all this with light earthy acidity I enjoy. Finish is tart citrus like grapefruit, passion fruit, pickled chilies, some Andes mint chocolate

This is really tasty with both savory and fruit. It’s got some nice coconut mango elements going on book ended with veggie and earthy elements

Batch RMT09 ABV: 54.57

Nose: Green Peppers, vinegar pickles, brine, light smoke, chili citrus seasoning, earthy

Palate: brine, clay, mineral, wet gravel, Chile dried mangoes, cinnamon bananas, citrus. Finish is buttery citrus, pepper, wet soil, ocean water

This is a really interesting and complex mezcal. It’s not entirely fruity or veggie or earthy. It’s a bit of all three. Good stuff

ABV: 46.5%

Nose: Plenty of wood, mesquite, bbqed meat, some light fruitiness underneath like melon, herbal and minty

Palate and Finish: Dry right away, green wood, salted peppers, mustard seeds, citrus, chili peppers, minerals, asphalt, grilled watermelon and sour pineapple. Finish is charred Peppers underneath, cocoa, light coffee aftertaste, mint and basil

Tio Tello knows how to do some karwinskii. Love his stuff and this is no different. Solid

ABV: 50%

Batch: SCM-212

Nose: earthy chocolate, dusty vanilla, slightly herbal

Palate: milk chocolate, raisins, chocolate mangoes, earthy and bbq moving into the finish. Some vanilla and charred tobacco, plenty of clay pot dustiness

This is a good and straight forward clay pot mezcal. It was the first clay distillation I ever tried and think it’s a great entry point.

2022 edition

ABV: 50%

Nose: Green peppers, sage, eucalyptus, mint, honeysuckle, melon, pineapple juice, watermelon, very herbal with a fruit juice hiding beneath

Palate & Finish: Fruity at first, tart pineapple, unripe pears (unfortunately I had one today), honeydew melon, funky peaches, then more earthy stone, jalapenos, sweet chilies but not briney or pickled, basil and eucalyptus. The finish reminds me of basil peaches with some nice stone moving into minty fresh lime, white pepper, dry chalky element like licking stone.

This is a fun and interesting mezcal from Puebla, so far a state I have really enjoyed mezcal from. It’s herbal, mineral, and full of nice melons under the surface. I expected this to be more inline with the teps being a marmorata but it lacked some of the heavy citrus or green elements I tend to get there.

ABV: 51.2%

Nose: tart strawberries, petrichor, pineapple, diluted grape juice,

Palate: Banana yogurt, more strawberries, lemon, a bit of fennel and mustard seed moving to the finish which gets a bit peppery, then I get the mint others mention, some slate accompanied by grapefruit

This is great and one of my favorite Cenizos I’ve tried.

Batch PUE-171 ABV: 47%
Pizzora/Papalote Batch

Nose: smarties candy, kiwi, mango, pineapple, floral, nail polish

Palate: so fruity. I get tons of cantaloupe melon, a bit of dried tart mango, charred pineapple moving toward the finish is more minerality, a bit of slate. Finish is a charred flowers but not overly flowery. Coffee, just great and long lasting

This stuff is awesome and the best of DMs Ive had. So much fruit, slightly floral and balanced minerality

Batch S-07-CEAMB-22
43% Coyote, 28% Espadin, 22% Arroqueno, 5% Mexicano, 2% Bicuixe

Nose: herbal limeade, wet clay, lemon lime, herbs like lavender and sage, as it sits I get a bit of milky chocolate

Palate: fruit up front, burnt orange, chili covered mango, then it gets very earthy and clay driven, cocoa, top soil, dry rub seasoning. Finish is really nice. Slightly Smokey but plenty of earthy soy, with a hint of charred citrus along the way

I’ve had three bottles of these Ensambles and while this batch is probably my least favorite of the three it’s still very good. All three would be either 3.5 and 4 stars. Really nice clay influence on this one. Tio Rey ensambles are always great to keep on hand

Lot E-11-MAB-22

53% Mexicano, 36% Arroqueno, 11% Bicuixe

Nose: earthy, sweet figs, raisins, some pear, the Mexicano comes through strong, a bit of pineapple, wet soil

Palate and Finish: pineapple, orange juice, almost candy like, slight floral, pine, cherry, dust, cherry fires up more as we move to the finish. Finish is chocolate, more cherry, a bit of pepper

Solid ensamble that’s always at a great price.

Nose: Minty melon, inside of a cantaloupe, papaya, a bit of layered citrus and sweet potato, lemongrass

Palate and Finish: melon, mint, papaya, butternut squash, so soft on the mouthfeel, moving toward the finish I get a bit of milk duds, slight minerality and a leathery cumin. Finish is light pepper, some cinnamon, and a nice dry but long finish.

I’m partial to this bottle since it was the first Cupreata I ever had or bought and I loved it right away. It’s still solid and stands tall although slightly behind some of my other favorites (looking at you Benigno)

This review is for a batch labeled Cultivado en Cerro. ABV is 47%

Nose: fresh grass, mint, green apple, distinct rosemary and sage, petrichor

Palate and Finish: minty green apple, soft lemon juice, wood, green melon rind. Back end is fresh minerality, tons of herbs, ground stone, sage, rosemary, little citrus and pine

Good Lalo as always. This leans more into the herbs than I prefer but still solid. Interestingly less clay influence than I usually see from Lalo

Nose: soft and citrusy, a bit of melon, lemon lime popsicle, almost like a margarita, coconut, lavender

Palate: candy like mouthfeel, almost oily which I love, orange and Meyer lemon, subtle melon, the mouthfeel reminds me of coconut moving into the finish. Finish is where you get a bit of minerality, lemon smarties, slate and herbal elements, it’s kind of grassy

This stuff is so crushable. While not overly complex it’s just damn good from nose to finish. When first trying I wanted to give it a 4 but side by side with the Refugio I think the complexity knocks it back a touch. Both are great tequilanas and I’ve really enjoyed the boxes theme.

Nose: funky and tangy, like a spiced covered soft cheese, cumin, some pine, hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, I get some stewed fruits after some time

Palate: a lot going on here, tangy fruits like sour mango and kiwi, this lemonade like acidity that just layers the complex. Moving to the finish I get some ash, bitter minerals, a bit of herbal spice like lemongrass. Finish is minty, wet river rock, this nice ash and sweet smoke just sits for a while.

This is lovely and a really cool example of what Tequilana can taste like when produced differently. You can tell this funky thing had a three week ferment

Batch: SN09-19 ABV: 48.1%

Nose: so fruity, strawberries, banana, plums, the earthy clay plays so well with the fruit too, bringing this tangy leather, I see what others refer to as barnyard funk

Palate: earthy soil, mulch on the front, pie crust, that moves to a strawberries, cheesecake, mango, kiwi. The finish is tangy citrus, chalky on the mouth feel, still plenty of mango and berries as it sits.

I rarely have had mezcals with so much fruit throughout. Some are fruity in the nose or maybe the palate. This is just a funky fruit bomb and I love it. It’s one of my favorites to crack for less agave inclined friends to say “look at how unique this stuff can be!”

Batch TELCU08 ABV 47.54%

Nose: green wood, pine, old leaves, lemon lime almost like Sprite, dryer sheets

Palate and Finish: Orange, bitter grapefruit, stewed peaches, some earthy dust, cinnamon, almond. Finish is grassy, lemongrass, lime, more wood

I love this bottle. Bought it early into trying Mezcal and couldn’t get enough. Just such a solid karwinksii

Nose: slight earth and almost yeasty, banana bread, some honeydew melon, after reading it I definitely understand the fresh milk Jam references

Palate: Banana, big time banana, some melon, lime, some nice dust and minerality on the back. Finish is great. Slate, lemongrass, bitter citrus, sits with you for a while. Chalky on the mouthfeel

Lovely stuff

Lot 008

Nose: tart citrus, lemon, briny, candy like though, almost like lemonheads, there’s a tangy mulch thing going I often associate with clay.

Palate and Finish: oh yeah lemon candy for sure, lemon sour patch kids, great mouthfeel, the melon I look for in Cupreata is there but really turned down, just so much citrus, apple cider vinegar, slight minerality and pepper toward the finish. The finish is terrific, slightly bitter grapefruit that sits for a long time, a bit leathery. Some peppery smoke in a great way.

Guerrero Cupreata has been one of my favorites for a while and this does not disappoint. Damn this is good