Opening a box of pink nerds, a little purple too. Candy necklaces, that kind of thing.

Slightly grippy texture, acidic, a little funky. I wonder if this saw a longer fermentation. The candy is big on the midpalate, some Laffy Taffy coming into the finish. A touch hot, but characterful.

A bit hot, thin, but fantastic and characterful. Waffled on raising it to a 7.

Herbs, lots of dried herbs, basil, with blueberries galore. Now getting more wood, leather, cedar, those kindsa notes.

More acidic, lighter bodied, white pepper. Good control of proof but the sweetness could be higher. Lots of interesting candy notes with burnt sage, juniper, eucalyptus coming in for a very complex finish.

A fantastic producer. I expected a touch more from this, but his stuff can vary decently.

001-MA / AA001

There’s no big PX influence, some excess toffee alongside cooked agave but other than that it noses like a real plain jane espadin, perhaps there’s some prune and cinnamon that might not have been there otherwise. Decent smoke, some citrus tones, reminding me of some other San Dionisio Octotepec offerings.

The palate is weird, kinda sweet, more vanilla here, a decent body to it. The finish is hot, hotter than it should be and sweet here still. It kinda works, but there’s some wet wood notes on the back that I’m not super happy about. A little acidity keeps it from being flabby.

What a bizarre product. I’m not sure who the intended audience is, but I imagine this sure as hell won’t be the last product to utilize both sweet casks and filtration to make a “smoothed” product. The mezcal underneath that seems competent enough, to their credit, and not the worst casks. It’s probably not traditional, and I don’t think this is the kind of product that I want to support, personally. This is sweet. That’s kinda cheating in context.

Sample tasted in a large flight, ACRO18. Basil, kinda that spicy green side. Vetiver, sandalwood? Something musty in a sexy way. Brighter, lemon pledge. Really nice finish, clean and refreshing. Evergreen / juniper.

Hot, ha. But, oh, that slate and earth and depth and lots of chocolate wafers (Nabisco). Just, really dominated by his style. Some purple skittles on the finish. I’m not sure I’d care to hunt for this when his ensembles are around.

White chocolate bomb. Waffle cones, vanilla, yeast, like, it’s a white chocolate bomb on the nose, browned butter, the lightest of brazil nut. Complex, slightest hint of plantain. Proof well in control. Fruitier coming from the Vago 2019 Arro en barro. At $193 or so, I think I’ll pass. Good, but the bar is really high as are the prices.

Boring. I agree there is some sweet potato and banana here, starchy. A little more ashen. Mineral. Tastes like other Minas arros.

ACL02-19. I’ve reviewed this before somewhere I swear, retasted it recently and here are my shortened notes from a clay arroqueno flight: Yea, there’s that banana. Bosyenberry cream cheese, sage, floral finish. Tempted to grab a bottle, tempted to call it an 8/10,

Adrian Bautista
Lot 1/19 47%

Clean nose. Baked agave, citrus, fruit tones, and light ash fight each other rather than forming a harmonious example.

Light body, acidic certainly, and some minerality and pink peppercorns. The main palate is diffuse, boring, and immediately upon swallow swells into a lot of heat. Drinks closer to a boring espadin here, as the lovely commenter before mentioned, with a little more earthy savory character. Overall, the profile has interesting moments but it doesn’t quite come together, and the palate is a sure letdown.

A soft, pretty example. There’s some nice candied citrus, light soft cheese, of course the classic jalepeno and other pepper tones, but with a velvety texture and gentle florality. Very approachable and a good example of the region!

Floral and nightshade driven – some potato starch is in there with the gobs and gobs of peppers. Poblano and habenero lead the way, there’s a papaya fruitiness as well as some watermelon. These contrasts of orange and green flavors are nice! Oranges, cilantro add to that, some mint, white pepper. Mineral, creamsicle, pretty comfortable. Creamy texture.

Complex, high toned, green, sharp. Interesting, complex, but beyond that I can’t get too excited sadly.

ENSMAN001

A touch hot, but tons of weird citrus slices, marchmallow root, cedar, some nice acidity. Apologies for the short notes! Aromatic, floral, nice clove spices.
BCXCAN1804

Smoked fish, plums, tarragon, spearmint. Salted licorice candies, Jolly Rancher Strawberry? Very complex and controlled. Aromatic, fruity, savory, mineral, this hits on every sense.

Stinky meaty smoked fish entry, swelling through agave sweetness and bright fruitiness into mulch tones and bitter cocoa powder, before turning into different darker fruits and fading on the salted licorice, smoke, heat, and slightly woody sign of things. Sweet, savory, mineral, sour, bitter, in that order. This hits hard!!!

Tasted blind. Sharp, aromatic, spicy. Higher proof karwinskii vibes? Grassiness in spades, some pool toy, gentle nice smoke, more grass, green mango. Aromatic as hell. Some dulche de leche hidiing in there, along with cilantro, flamed orange oils, and fresh veggies.

Lime peel for days. Main palate is just a really nice, vibrant agave character that’s super full and aromatic. Floral main body, fading into sotol notes and some tomatillo.

Tasted blind. There’s a familiar agave sweetness, a lightness, but also a depth. But yea, there’s chicken smells, rice, cinnamon, a blend of tropical-leaning fruits, some defined citrus notes that really would fit the bill. The savory notes are matched to the assumed espadin underneath, supported just enough by fruit complexity. Red apple skins come to the top of the glass, this is complex and well crafted. Almost has some capon character, seemingly estery and spicy and savory, but I think there’s more than that.

Sweet, intense entry that’s agave driven, quickly turning to funk! Riding into the main palate there’s lactic notes supporting spices, herbs, and sweetness, that fades into red apples, bitter oranges, something akin to rice hulls.

Tasted blind.

Coming from an El Jolgorio Tobala, this is a little funkier and greener immediately. Almost some of those raicilla-like “cheese and herbs” tones. White wine vinegar (though a pleasant and round one) as a fruit tone along with pear (white Haribo), vegetal agave, dried flowers, carrots, lemon peel, mildest wormwood. Good complexity! A little harsh or out of balance at the moment on the nose.

Acidic entry, lighter palate. Herbal and green for sure, with a peppercorn melange showing up gently. More wormwood tones, soft goat cheese, less fruit if any really, and that all fades into a hot and white pepper driven finish that’s thankfully not too long. Oddly tastes great on the sides of my tongue, isn’t that not supposed to be a thing?

Not really a fan, can’t really figure out what it might be neither.

5/10 on the t8le scale. There’s something cool going on in there, I can’t figure out what. Overall, this is stark and hot. Very complex and engaging, and something that’s probably “worth trying” but not something I’d reach for.

Pedro Vasquez batch from 2014: full of perfumed bright berries, and Runtz character. mineral, delicious! 8/10 on the t8ke scale I’d think, sadly not really around any more.

Gregorio Martinez Ed 15 47%: tasted blind, I didn’t think this could be a copper distilled tobala. More green and earthy than anticipated, with good structural balance. 7/10.

Check your producer info on each bottle!

T-016

Drank after Ojo de Tigre. More floral, minty, acidic, lavender. Jack fruit, cinnamon, dates, coconut blossom. Ethanol.

Hot, thinner than I thought. Drinking like 58%, with some Easy Marker. Less fruit flavor, more chalk.

5/10 on the t8ke scale. Maybe it’ll relax with air, hence the 5 instead of a 4. I really want to like this brand, the mezcalero is very capable!

BC001
Gentle, slightly herby but good fruits. Tropical fruits (mango, kiwi), floral, plums. More tobala character than expected. Some mild vanilla, Ceylon, tarragon.

Gentle here as well, with an interesting perfumed character on entry that finishes more like espadin. Slightly viscous, more than expected, needs some acidity. Not much bitterness.

5/10 on the t8ke scale. Really great stuff for an entry level product. The tobala is here without bringing Sharpie tones etc.