Tasted at London Mezcal Week 2019. This was the stand-out winner of a very strong line-up from Sin Gusano. End of a long day of tasting, so notes are patchy at best! Intense and delicious with a touch of pear-drop, tropical fruit and cheesy funk on the nose and with super complex, earth fresh green agave and a mouth-filling creaminess on the palate and long finish. There is a lot going on with this. All good. I had to go a back for a second taste. Brilliant example of how good jabalí can be.

This is by no means bad mezcal. It is not going to blow anyone’s mind, but nor is it trying to. I have tried this mezcal many times and it always tastes the same, but I feel that’s the point. Variability from batch-to-batch is part of the charm for dedicated mezcal heads, but not for bartenders mixing cocktails, which is what this is best suited to. The smoke is very pronounced, along with the sweetness of cooked agave and the heat of alcohol on the finish that perhaps makes it seems higher ABV than it is. There is a little earthiness and caramel, but it is not complex, making it work well with other ingredients while the smoke and heat shines through. The problem is that, at this price (currently £45 in the UK), there are much better mezcals to be had, such as Pensador and Burrito Fiestero. Don’t let this put you off other offerings in the Del Maguey range, some are truly outstanding!

Lote 4, 06/18 46.1%. Earth, green vegetation, peppery and leathery on the nose with some sour notes, with marshmallow sweetness. The palate is very sweet at first, followed by the earthyness, vegetation and a smack in the face of black and green pepper and spice, like munching on fresh mustard greens. Full and oily mouthfeel with the alcohol and spice lasting a long time. Punchy and tasty stuff. 4*

Batch: A2/2018, 48% ABV. This is a great mezcal, especially for the price. It’s very clean, smooth and sweet. It very little of the farmyard funk or puntas flavour that some (including me) enjoy and it will therefore appeal to tequila drinkers/ new mezcal drinkers, but is still interesting enough for dedicated mezcal-heads.

Nose: I got mint/menthol, citrus and strong agave flavour up front. After it had been sitting for five minutes, more herbaceous, pepper mineral and leather aroma really came out.

Taste: There is some acidity and lots of agave flavour. It really is remarkably smooth and sweet, with the sweetness developing as it sits in the glass. There are definite peppery spice and mineral flavours in there too, probably from the Madrecuishe. It finishes sweet and smoky, but the smoke is not overpowering.

Don Antogenes is doing good things here! I highly recommend picking up a bottle if you get a chance.

Picked up a domestic bottle of this in Tijuana on a recommendation and glad I did. Unfortunately didn’t note the Lot or bottle number and (it is now gone). It’s a very approachable mezcal, the smoke doesn’t smack you in the face, but is well integrated and creeps up. I got a lot of ‘Christmas spice’ notes in my bottle. It was almost rum-like, with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and flamed orange on top of the agave flavour. Very smooth but in no way boring. Definitely recommended!