Alcohol, sandalwood, bitter gentian root, hemp rope, soy sauce, bbq sauce, olive brine, red meat, roast agave. Interesting but I don’t like it.
Incense, cake frosting, freshly turned soil, cedar, ocean air, stewed dark fruits. Fantastic.
I got strong melon flavors from this. Cantaloupe, honeydew, candy corns, vanilla, spearmint, eucalyptus, sea salt, creamy mouthfeel. Very tasty.
New tennis shoe, plastic, campfire, grapefruit pith, kaffir lime leaf, peppermint, rubber band. I dislike this intensely.
Took me a while with this one to notice anything else but a decent Espadin but subtle flavors starting coming out. Menthol, basil, vanilla, sandalwood, strawberry shisha tobacco, cacao, and clove.
Barbecued pineapple, caramel, cinnamon, mango, pine, with a spicy salty cayenne pepper olive brine finish.
This is a perfect expression of Barril Agave. Earthy and complex. Freshly cut oak tree, baked clay, roasted cacao, old leather, marbled rye, vanilla ice cream. I love this.
Whoa! This is funky! Stinky feet on the nose, definite pulque flavor which I like, very vegetal like steamed grass, then out of nowhere it turns sour, like sour candy. At first I was put off, but I kept coming back for the acidity and the uniqueness. I don’t know if you need a bottle of this but you should definitely try it. I’m getting a bottle, just because it’s so different.
This one has a lot going on, funky, lactic, sweet, salty. I only had an ounce to taste so I’m sure if I had more I would taste even more flavors. Brown sugar, sour milk, cinnamon, milk chocolate, sea salt, wint o green lifesavers. A unique expression of Agave Azul.
Savory and sweet like warm apple pie, cinnamon, clove, allspice. Nice dessert Mezcal.
Minty! Peppermint candy, anise flavors like fennel fronds and some fresh minerality like river rocks. I like this one a lot.
I had this in a tasting and I didn’t get the batch number but it was quite a bit better than the last batch of Rey Campero Madrecuixe I tried which was very astringent and alcoholic. Very tropical. Pound cake, allspice, cinnamon, pineapple, mango, fuji apple. Nice one.
Batch 0319FC. Like those chewy caramel candies I would fill my mouth with when I was a kid visiting my grandparents. Delicious. Also dark chocolate, peppermint, and lavender. Very nice Bicuixe.
Batch 0418HSA. I would have never guessed this was a Jabali, very unique and interesting. Anise flavors like crushed fennel seed, cloves, cinnamon, and some savory vegetal notes of roast agave and briny green olives. I like it.
Lot: FSK 09X.01 Surprisingly good, especially for the price! When I first opened it the smell was pure nail polish remover, but within a few minutes it mellowed out to a nice subtle fruity aroma. The taste was orange creamsicle, lemon peel, spearmint lifesavers, rosewater, and cinnamon sticks. A really nice Espadin!
I’m a sucker for a good story, and this one proved irresistible to the Mezcal nerd in me. A true old-school single field blend, from two Mezcaleros that I really like, with a list of agaves that include many of my favorites. Bicuixe, Verde, Madrecuixe, Tepextate, Tobala, and a single piña of Azul. This is a Mezcal to convert any spirit lover who claims to not like Mezcal. Delicate, light, sweet, and floral. It’s like a cool breeze in the tropics. Vanilla bean, frangipani flower, orange blossoms, fresh spearmint, crushed fennel seed, clove and cinnamon. Absolutely delicious!!
Magic. Tobacco leaf, sage, vanilla wafers, a desert stream hitting the ocean at sunset, pound cake, diamonds, oyster shells. Don Valente Angel Garcia is a magician of the highest order. I need to visit his Palenque next time I’m in Oaxaca. This Mezcal unanimously won a blind tasting at my house between Mezcalero 22, 16, and two Don Beto Madrecuixe.
Lot: 14. I love Cupreata Mezcals. This one, although not my favorite, is still quite good. Band-Aid smell but tropical fruit flavors. Juicy Fruit gum, strawberry soda, banana ice cream, pineapple, white pepper, and frangipani flower. Yum.
Lot: ESALB01-19. This one took me several sessions to wrap my head around. This is a Mezcal lovers Espadin. Complex and challenging, this batch is not for the newbie. Alberto Martinez really knows how to bring out complex flavors from his agaves. I have a feeling that everyone who tries this is going to taste something different. For me, right off the bat I got a flavor that reminded me of new tennis balls, similar to his Sierra Negra. It’s very woody and aromatic like cedar and sandalwood. Spicy like allspice, and cinnamon. It’s creamy and a bit bitter like gentian root tea, peat bog, and burnt match. Then at the end it’s herbal with notes of citrus like chamomile tea and meyer lemon. Every time I try it I like it more.
