Lot No: BCXCAN1804, Btl. 059/240. Cedar & spice and everything nice. Plant flavors come through loud and clear. The finish is a little leathery and tastily long lasting.
Volume 1, Lote 2, September 2016. Its acidic profile is exciting! Sweetness vacillates between orange and crème sodas. Some baking spices are sprinkled throughout, and flavors are complex start to finish. I love the aromas remaining in an empty glass.
Special harvest too. The Brocha matured 3 years post Capon, and the Amarillo 4 years after removing the sprouting quiote.
Lot 1, btl 100/1000, date 9/16, 52.3% ABV, Cuauthemoc Jacquez. What’s this smell? What’s that taste? Mezcales from Northern Mexico tend to elicit a Zen-Like state of mind for me, so I prefer to accept rather than define the experience. However, since this is a place for reviews, I’ll share that I like it very much and I think it is very good.
Batch 07, 41.5% ABV, Don Jose Acosta. A mild version of Salmiana Mezcal from San Luis Potosi. Suitable for full-on gulps, rather than sipping. For ease of consumption alone it’s worth an additional half star. I like it.
XJM16-17, 50.2% ABV, Jorge Mendez Ramirez. Aromas of light citrus & vanilla, vanilla again for taste, accompanied by mild candied orange and rainwater; nice, pretty mezcal.
Lot: 01-L. Light citrus and fruit on the nose, plus the ubiquitous aroma of Oaxacan mezcal. Sweet, roasted agave, a hint of cedar wood (sometimes fresh oregano), and other non-descript flavors in the middle. A short and sweet finish, with barely perceivable smoke. The bottom line is this mezcal is pleasant, and good, though not remarkable.
Former brand owner Jonathan Barbieri says Maguey de Lumbre resembles Espadin, but pencas are thinner, and have a reddish tint. I think Pierde Almas Mezcal de Lumbre also tastes like mezcal made from Espadin. I gave it four stars, but I feel it’s closer to three and a half.
Mildly herbaceous nose, somewhat green resinous initial taste, cinnamon, hot spiciness/alcohol burn, roasted agave finish, sometimes sawdust too. Its aftertaste is not much of a highlight for me.
Mineral salt and a little bit of mint on the nose, the salt carries over to taste with soft vegetal notes, and a warm buttery mouthfeel going in; white pepper, celery salt, subtle smoke, Manchego cheese, and delicate sweetness in the long finish. I love this Mezcalosfera second US release.
Lot S-96-TOB-16, 48.2% ABV, April 2016, dark, deep, rich, multi-layered. Vegetal notes emerge occasionally, sometimes spice, sometimes something else. Very long, lingering finish, with taste & feel of orange liqueur and sticky chocolate on the lips. A wonderfully sophisticated mezcal.
There’s unique hybridization occurring on Tio Rey’s ranch. One example is his cultivated Tobala agave, which are much larger at maturity than typical Agave Potatorum species found elsewhere.
Lot 003, 46.29% ABV. This mezcal has a light nose, which belies what happens next, a little agave taste at first, followed by overwhelming alcohol, and not the good kind, with pronounced lip & tongue burn. The finish is somewhat sweet, but mouth burn is persistent, and smoke is conspicuously absent. This one is similar to a mediocre tequila, despite its mezcal credentials.
Nice hand-painted artwork on the bottle.
Lot TEP – 131, 45% ABV. The bottle’s descriptive notes mirror my tasting experience in many ways “…candied fruit nose of banana taffy and spun sugar… with floral notes of honeysuckle…”, to which I would add a little bit of smoke. The mouth feel is viscous & soft. Subtle spice is noticeable initially, but the body’s flavor is dominated by candy sweet tastes, with a meaty, smoky, mouth watering finish. This bottling is a sinfully easy drinker.
Lot 1. Clarity and focus, flavor that cuts through anything previously on the palate, then establishes a sweet, lightly citrus aftertaste. Its high ABV is more buzz than burn; a flavor delivery mechanism rather than distraction. As Raicilla goes this is an all-star. The scaling conundrum is selecting a rating compared to smoked-agave spirits.
Lot E-06-MC-16, 50.1% ABV, Emigdio. Cotton candy & new-car-smell on the nose, noticeable alcohol burn, moderate fruit flavor, starchy sweet mid-palate, finish of straw, earth, agave sweetness, and a little bitter aftertaste.
Lot E-05-C-16, 50.2% ABV, Emigdio. Nose of green olive, salt, and very light smoke, bright, spicy flavors of Chiltepin chiles & white pepper, pronounced alcohol burn, a little herbaceous, a dry finish with straw, earth, sweet agave, and somewhat bitter aftertaste. A challenging drink when the bottle was first opened, then this mezcal morphed into a real beauty a year later.
I appreciate funk and I kind of like Sierra del Tigre. My wife says my breath smells like I’ve been eating road-kill after I drink it. We still get lots of laughs on that comment.
Edition 05, Harvest 2000, Bottle 360/1350, 48% ABV, Jose Cortez Santiago. Faintly floral nose. Pervasive effervescent-like tingling mouthfeel. Bright, indistinct main flavors, with barnyard earth beneath, followed by a short, dry, woody finish. The aftertaste is dominated by green resin and persistent tongue tingle, plus smoke in the background. Evaluated as a standalone Espadin, I give it 4 stars. However, El Jolgorio’s silvestre/wild Espadin of 2005 occupies that spot, and the 2000 harvest year batch lacks the former’s beauty, depth, and complexity. The 2000 gets only 3 stars from me when I rate it in comparison context.
Batch: 002-ESP, 47.8% ABV, Ignacio Parada, Bottle No. 1699/2080. This batch had a 2005 distillation date, 7 years stored in Damajuanas (demijohns), then bottled in 2012, effectively making this mezcal 11 years + rested in glass until the opening date, and it shows. A light nose, a taste of candied fruit for a brief moment, followed quickly by a robust expansion of herbaceous flavors, licorice note on the calmer side, with a flavorful finish of roasted agave, well water, sweetness, and maybe a whiff of hibiscus. Nice residual smokiness too. Good stuff!
Lot S-20-EMB-15, 53% Espadin/32% Barril/15% Mexicano; 52.6% ABV. Subdued aromas of clay distillation and ripe berries, sweet taste to start, heat & spice ignite in the middle then fizzle out quickly, sweetness continues through the finish and lingers long afterward. Baked agave essence prevails at the end with high-notes of cinnamon & dry spruce needles. The aftertaste is very pleasant and long-lived.
Lot: ORGULLA-10-AMM, faintly floral, a little fruity, very spicy, and nicely sweet. A mouth filling drink of this mezcal delivers a major spice rush!
Lot: ARMONIA 001, 40% ABV. Alcohol, minor agave sweetness & aroma; enough redeeming qualities to rate just ok. My mediocre experience with this bottling was/is an anomaly among Wahaka mezcales.
Grapefruit and mineral salt on the nose, mineral notes continue to the palate, it has a light body with alcohol sizzle and flavor of unripe Carambola, an underpinning of mild smoke, and nuanced agave sweetness on the finish. I enjoy this mescal, but it lacks wow-factor(s).
