50% abv, lote 002

Review #156: The nose has lots of roasted and smoked bell peppers and jalapeños, dark chocolate, pine, lime, parmesan, bbq sauce, charred corn on the cob, some florals, wet earth, and light smoke.
The palate has a juicy fruitiness on the front of the palate like raspberry, lime, pine, honey, chocolate, coffee, and the finish has lots of roasted pepper flavors, cacao powder, and wet earth.

This is such a unique mezcal with a great complexity. Best word to describe it it juicy. The vegetal notes on this are so rich and full along with a pop of fruits and dark savory base notes. I haven’t had much fron SLP but I’m sure this is one of the better ones out there from that region.

Lote L.C.200.4.23, 50% abv

Review #155: The nose has coffee, milk chocolate, earth, cotton, and banana.
The palate has canteloupe, coffee, cinnamon, milk chocolate, cotton, lemongrass syrup, wet earth, banana pudding, and some serrano pepper on the finish.

It is very great to find that guerrero papalote creamy note translate to banana here. It had a lot of classic notes I expected and I’m all for it. A great mix of fruits with the chocolate, coffee, and earthiness.

Lote R.C.200.5.23, 46.5% abv

Review #154: The nose has cantaloupe, leather, milk chocolate, wood, sharpie, and a little floral.
The palate has lots fruit up front, canteloupe, honeydew, mango skin, pineapple juice, coffee, creamy milk chocolate, leather, green banana, old wood, and a bit of dry herbs on the finish.

Great papalote from guerrero, no surprise there. Really nice mix of soft fruit notes with the savory ones alongside it. The transition from the fruits to the leather and chocolate are awesome and lends a lot of complexity to it.

Review #153: the nose has cotton, orange, lemon, and lime oils, vanilla, clorox wipes, wildflowers, soft earthiness, nuts, and ash.
The palate has plenty of lemon, lime, and orange all up front, then some underripe honeydew, light florals, vanilla, a moment of fresh cream mid palate, and turns to dry minerality with a touch of ash and nuts on the finish.

This is that classic clean Ramos profile with tequilana and it’s just about what I expected. There’s nothing really exciting about it to me but it is undeniably well made. It is just really fresh citrus all over with a solid minerality.

Review #152: The nose is very funky, with overripe pineapple, butyric acid, strawberry, some sort of funky cheese, lots of citrus like lemon, lime, and orange, mint, dry minerality.
The palate has lots of rotten pineapple, butyric acid, strawberry, bubblegum, mint, a bit of that weird cheese, lemon, lime, very tangy overall, and the finish turns into a slate minerality with a touch of ash.

This stuff is pretty cool. It reminds me a lot of Virgen’s stuff which is also from Jalisco. Must be something about that yeast. Really tart fruits with that noticable butyric funk added to it. The nose and finish has this nice minerality surrounding everything that keeps the weirdness from being too overwhelming.

Lote E06, 45% abv

Review #151: The nose has cream, lemon oils, grapefruit, fresh orange, guava, like Jonny said some violet, rose and then other delicate white florals, and a sort of fresh linen candle scent.
The palate has a noticeable oiliness to it, with notes of cream, lemon, orange, guava, soft florals, and on the finish a touch of smoked herbs comes through.

This is pretty solid for a budget mezcal. The creamy note on this really lifts it up as it add a richness to the nose and a thickness to the palate that I really enjoy. This isn’t much to write home about or pick apart, but it is just hits the spot on the price point for chilling with a drink. I bet this works wonders in cocktails too.

Lote A-17-EL-21, 50.4% abv

Review #150: The nose has corn, vanilla, cherry, lychee, earth, bread, hay, and acetone.
The palate has fresh, sweet roasted corn, vanilla, acetone, orange, touch of cherry, pineapple juice, lemon oils, and lasting on the finish is dry grass, smoke, and dusty earth.

This was one of my first bottles of mezcal that is nearing the last pour. It was sort of a roller coaster of a bottle. I kind of liked it at first simply because I hadn’t tried much yet and started to dislike it after trying lots more.
As I go through it more though, I find more delicate complexity in this than before. It’s a bit brash and sweet, the finish is pretty dry, and I do get some noticable acetone. Underneath it though is a mix of pretty fruit notes that makes me a bit more sad than I thought I’d originally be to see this solid budget bottle be empty.

48% abv, batch 2021-LG

Review #149: The nose has vanilla, white musk, rose, lavender, cherry syrup, and playdoh.
The palate has rose, lavender, vanilla, lemon oils, grape candy, medicinal cherry syrup, salted butterscotch, dry grass and earthiness on the finish.

This is pretty enjoyable with a fun array of flavors. The palate has a nice fruity floral thing but the finish keeps it from being too much with a nice earthiness. The nose is a bit lacking but it is still quite nice. Nothing extraordinary happening here but it’s certainly a good sotol.

45% abv, lote 0521
Review # 148: The nose has powdered sugar, rose, lavender, vanilla, nail polish remover, orange zest, and “unscented” baby wipes.
The palate has powdered sugar, a touch of cream, rose, lavender, vanilla, orange zest, and ashy smoke.

This is a perfectly okay mezcal. There’s not necessarily anything wrong that I find with it, but it just doesn’t seem to have a lot going on. It’s very delicate, especially on the nose. This doesn’t help either with some heat being pretty noticeable on the palate despite a not so high abv. What this does have going for it is that it’s very crushable and it would be a decent intro to tobala for someone.

44.7% abv, lote 64
Review # 147: the nose has funky creamy cheese, green bell pepper, jalapeno poppers, honey, and lemon.
The palate has jalapeno, bell peppers, cream cheese, black pepper, lemon, lime, zucchini, all wrapped up in a bit of honey sweetness, and a crispy kale sort of green minerality on the finish.

As agavefairy said in a review before: jalapeno poppers. Review over.
But seriously, this stuff is one of the best bottles you can get for the price. It’s very aromatic, rich on the palate, and salmiana is just cool! I love the savory and creamy green notes going on and I’m definitely getting another bottle once mine is gone.

47% abv, lote JAB-201

Review #146: The nose has garden salsa sunchips, leather, red pepper, grains, cheddar, aged parmesan, clay, musty attic, tobacco, and cucumber melon soap.
The palate has cucumber, overripe canteloupe, and guava all up front, then comes the sweet mint, grass, cotton, tobacco, and a little wood.

This is a fantastic Jabali with a lot going on. The nose was probably my favorite part of this, with the cheese, vegetals, and grains sort of making this sunchip thing pop in my head. The palate doesn’t hold up as much as the nose does but it still has a fun complexity with the fruits showing up. This is really unique and definitely worth trying.

Review #145: The nose has nuts, rubber, earthy, lemon pith, sweet potato, tobacco, pine, cedar, leather, milk chocolate, and vanilla
The palate is very woody, leather, caramel, vanilla bean, pine, milk chocolate, nutty, sweet potato, tobacco, moss, black pepper, and lots of fuzzy jabali tingles.

This was part of a side by side, and it felt like a totally different end of the spectrum of the others. One interesting thing is it had noticeably more of those fuzzy tingles compared to the others while having no heat from the high abv. It is so delicious, like a dessert, with such a richness and viscosity to it. It is overall on the savory side and one of my favorites I have had from that kind of profile.

Review #144: The nose has bubblegum, apple, sake, cherry, mango, peach, sweet florals, and as it opens up a while the fruits get overripe and something skunky.
The palate has crisp apple, mango, anise, cinnamon bark, gravel, and leather. For some reason I’m also reminded of lake water.

This is a lovely weird mezcal that I really enjoyed trying. The flavors are just so rich and potent and it leaves such a long lasting finish. I agree with Ben that the cinnamon and anise are more dominant on the palate compared to the nose where I got more silky fruit, but also everything is still so well balanced while still being a little on the crazy side.

40% abv, lote 12/23

Review #142: the nose has bell pepper, jalapeno, funky parmesan cheese, and florals.

The palate has raspberry, bell pepper, jalapeno, parmesan, cream, and sweet florals.

I’m always hesitant about 40%, as one should be. This one surprised me. It has a strong aroma and flavors. I can only imagine what some added proof could do to this. It has a nice balance of classic salmiana vegetals with some fruits to keep it fresh. The low price point makes this even more worth to try if you have a chance.

49.3% abv, lote ENCH/LEC/SOT/3/10/23

Review #142: The nose has earth, chocolate, pine, caramel, and leather.

The palate has peppermint, mint chocolate, green beans, pine, mossy, cream, strawberry, caramel, leather, and some dry earth on the finish.

This is really different from his other stuff. I find his agave bottlings to be on the delicate side and the sotol really dominates and shines through here. As it opens up I get a bit of the sweeter notes from the agave, but overall it’s more chocolate, vegetal, and earthy. I found this to be a pretty fun showcase of a bolder sotol expression backed up with his softer lechuguilla flavors.

47.5% abv, lote ENS/LECH/CHAW/10/15/23

Review #141: On the nose is bubblegum, strawberries and cream, vanilla, fresh milk, cotton, and white flowers.

The palate has bubblegum, mozzarella, cream, vanilla, banana, strawberry, wet clay, canteloupe, apricot jam, dark cherry, and some candied rose and other florals on the finish.

This is the like the no brand/lechuguilla Cumbrita dialed up a notch. The nose is rich, the fruit notes are bold, and it’s very silky and delicate but at the same time very expressive. It’s very easygoing to drink but has a lot of depth to it. The chawi must be working some magic here because this is excellent.

50% abv, no lot number

Review #140: On the nose I get lots of fresh florals, sweet lavender, jasmine, sunflower, mint candy, grapefruit, orange oils, orange juice, and lemonade.
The palate has fresh orange, lavender, lemonade, grapefruit, lemongrass, lime oils, and lime leaf.

This is really pretty! The nose is just blossoming with fresh sweet florals and lovely citrus notes. The palate follows suit quite well, and leaves just a touch of bitter grassiness to keep it from being too sweet but still balanced. Definitely one of my favorite “pretty” mezcals where the florals are not too overwhelming but still present and complex.

This sample was provided to me free of charge with no strings attached.

49.7% abv, no lot number

Review# 139: On the nose I get plum, raisin, earthy coffee, pineapple, luxardo cherry, lime, fruit punch, and kind of wine-y.
The palate has leather, plum, luxardo cherry, lime, quality milk chocolate, cinnamon, earthy coffee, zuccini bread, and roasted cashew on the finish.

I loved the mix of wine-like fruits notes with the darker undertones. I don’t find this to have too much bitterness or heat for my taste. It’s definitely pushing between an 8-9/10 but I dont know if it has enough richness, maybe due to the glass resting. It’s still delicious though and one of those combinations of flavors I really enjoy.

This sample was provided to me free of charge with no strings attached.

48.5% abv, no lot number

Review #138: On the nose I get orange, banana, clay, wet wood, cream, provolone, vanilla, and parsley.
The palate has orange oils, clay, provolone, underripe banana, lime juice, milk, vanilla, bitter lemon, and lots of drying minerality.

This is tart and dry with a touch of funk. It has a solid citrus base with the other notes popping in and out. It’s not very creamy like some inaequidens, but I do get a mild funk similar to cheese. The finish does end a bit bitter for me, but it is has a great overall flavor that lasts.

This sample was provided to me free of charge with no strings attached.

49.6% abv, no lot number

Review #137: On the nose I get soft sweet cherry, overripe melons, mango juice, salty minerality, and acetone.
The palate has tart cherry, strawberry jelly, cooked banana pepper, ripe canteloupe, lemon, and vanilla.

I agree with JDB, this reminds me of La Luna Cupreata. It has a bit of a tangy flavor but also a softness that needs time to open up especially on the nose. It’s definitely a solid pour but a bit thin as nothing big stands out for me.

This sample was provided to me free of charge with no strings attached.