* Date: December 2017
* Lot: 3
* Bottle: 249/506
* Liters: 380
* ABV: 48.3%This is one delicious pour! Nose is smoked mint and pure sugar. Delightful.
Many flavors present but definitely sweet mint, black pepper and brioche. The finished results leave a warm feeling not unlike being in the forest after a warm rain, absolutely excellent.
Expensive but I will eventually buy another bottle because this is a such great tasting Mezcal. A solid representation of how complex Angustifolia flavors can be. A+!
* Date: 05-22
* Lot: 37
* Bottle: 128/350
* ABV: 43.2%Orale! Wild and way past “funk”… By far the most heavy sour crema and blue cheese pour I’ve ever had.
Fruity, complex, floral with a fairly long lasting cream finish. Apricots and oranges with a sour nose. Not much smoke and more clay than I was expecting.
So unique, so wild… borderline offensive. I love Raicillas though and highly recommend trying this beast or La Venenosa’s Tabernas Edition III if you want a more tame option.
* Date: Feb. 2022
* Lot: D5010-PC
* Bottle: 464/811
* Glass Rested: 3 Months
* ABV: 48.8%Nose is has an earthy soil undertone, strong mints and spices. You know you’re in for a treat before you even taste it.
Huge flavors! Sweet corn and pineapples and grilled veggies and fruits. Wonderful agave and smoke flavors with plenty of back heat.
The finish lingers on, very enjoyable. A wonderful Pechuga/an A+ overall pour; probably my very favorite Rey.
* Lot: A-45-EL-21
* Batch Size: 1,098 liters
* ABV: 50.3%I drink way too much of this stuff right here lol… Nose is a strong acetone, sweet buttered corn with clove and white pepper. A nice woodsy smoke and earthy cilantro/herbs. Even better after resting a month, only seems to keep getting better and better.
Always a good mouthfeel and a solid lingering finish that ends really pleasantly. Sweet and robust, an absolutely top performer for the price. This is one of my favorite daily sippers and I cannot recommend it highly enough; a definite cabinet staple.
* Date: 01-2000
* Lot: 3
* Bottle: 155/500
* ABV: 41.8%Light and slightly sour on the nose but still a nice amount of funk that one would expect from a Raicilla. ABV is light on this one so 1 star deducted due to that and price.
Very good flavor overall but still not as strong on the yogurt, sugar or creamy funk/custard notes that I was expecting/want from my Raicillas.
Not much of a finish to speak of but a pleasure to enjoy nevertheless. Premium but probably not something I’d purchase over and over again. B+
* Edition: 02
* Harvest: 2017
* Bottle: 68/150
* ABV: 50.3%Nose is amazingly thorough and robust. Sweet but still a strong alcohol presence and overall smells commanding. Apple pie with cinnamon?? One second herbaceous and the next is perfectly cooked agave.
The spirit itself is deep and rich and smooth. Raisins and lightly toasted walnuts with melted butter. Decadent!
Backside is fruity and stout then quietly tapers off into sweet… can’t wait to have more. An amazing drink, overall an A+ for sure.
* Mescalero: José Parada Valera
* Edition: 25
* Produced in: 2022
* Bottle: 83/500
* Batch: 1PMES150122NS
* ABV: 46%Hot when first opened and barely mellowed at all even 6 months later.
Nose: Hot ethanol, pink bubblegum and cedar planks. Earthy clay-style notes; complex and interesting…
Front: Strong initial burn and red pepper taste, black cherries and then juniper. Quickly numbs the inside of the mouth but eventually nicely fades after some time. Again this is aggressive and hot upfront but still kind of lovely.
Finish: Fresh molded rubber and perfectly cooked agave. Black pepper and a strong lingering of dried Indian corn. The finish unfortunately turns slightly unpleasant for a second but then fades back away from that quickly into… apricot I believe? Muted brown sugar finishes the experience which leaves my total overall impression better than I initially expected it to be.
I am also a bit surprised that this tastes stronger than the N.S. Lachigui even though it has a lower ABV (48% vs this 46%). Again even after a long period of resting period it is still a bit too hot/offputting but still nice and cheap enough to pass around with friends.
* Lot: 23
* ABV: 48.51%Nose is citrus and chocolate and spearmint. Slightly sour and definitely different (in a very positive way).
Taste is wild and intense but stops well short of offensive. Earthy and mineraly; the taste of the processes the agave has went through really shines here. I’ve honestly never had anything exactly like this before; cedar and herbaceous with enough sweet sugar to round it out properly. I prefer other La Luna offerings to this particular expression but it’s interesting enough to warrant another pour in the future…
Lots of burn on the backside with subtle undertones of many different types of fruits. An overall bright spirit that would be great on a early summer Sunday afternoon; A-!
* Lot: 6
* Bottle: 22/50
* ABV: 50%Extremely pleasant nose – a well rounded amount of spices, heat and earthly fragrances abound. Nothing offensive here at all.
The initial taste and the follow through are both the same way – wet stone, slight sweet bell pepper and roasted agave come out at first and they are all balanced perfectly. It’s warm and tasty throughout with a balanced stride.
The finish lingers almost long enough to keep me wanting more but not quite… it’s a shame that it gives up a few moments too quickly.
The only issue I have is that I found no extremely prominent flavors or exciting distinctions that would persuade me to buy another bottle, Pal’alma has far too many other top tier offerings that I haven’t tried yet for me to return back to this one.
* Batch: DRMP-16
* Harvest: 2022
* Bottle: 151/252
* ABV: 52.6%Complex and full-bodied, a very commanding spirit. Strong alcohol vapors keep this from being a 5 today but maybe it just needs more time to rest… My bottle was pulled directly from the center of the run and I will update this review after it has had a chance to open up for 6 months or so.
The nose is strong – leather and ethanol and wet stone, a slight cinnamon note too but nowhere near the over-spiced vapors typical with lesser Pechugas, this one is really lovely.
Flavor packs a punch! Strong heat with a fair amount of meat/smoked chicken present. Leather again and then clay, clove, white pear and orange peel. Grassy but not offensive. Thick and visceral in the glass.
A strong, long lasting finish that has a more sour than sweet vibe going on which is nice. The overall proof comes in hot for a split second then the final bit of meatiness appears but again I think age will mellow this out some more. Pricey but definitely special.
* Mescalero: Pedro Vasquez
* Edition: 21
* Produced: 2021
* Bottle: 81/1350
* Batch: PVOES231121NS
* ABV: 48%Red grapes, macadamia and ethanol – the nose is hot and inviting.
The first flavors are sweet fruits and black cherry particularly, then pure heat then a wonderful lingering leathery vanilla – an excellent overall profile.
The finish is the only semi-odd point here and I’m hoping it will mellow more with age; it has a bicycle inner tube/rubbery note that thankfully goes away quickly leaving only a quite tasty caramel woodsy heat. Maybe because I got such an early # bottle from the run?
Overall this is a great drink and the price point is outstanding for its quality which is exactly what I would expect from an El Jolgorio Mescalero. I will have no problem finishing off this particular bottle but I would probably buy/try another N.S. expression before replacing this one.
* Distilled by: Santos Juarez
* Lot: 02
* Year: 2018
* Liters Produced: 115
* ABV: 47%Wild! Loud funk and cheese, I love it. Both spicy and creamy at the same time, I am quite impressed.
Earthy and slightly fruity undertones are first followed by mild red bell pepper. Roasted agave next that quickly fades into a strong ethanol finish that goes away before it became too overpowering.
The rapid fade and the high price point through force me to give this otherwise very well-made spirit a 4 but I will definitely grab a vaso of it anytime I can find it out in the wild.
* ABV: 47%
Nose is very light, just a hint of smoke. Nothing exceptionally good or bad going on here.
First impressions are herbal with a tangerine/some other type of orange citrus undertone. The spirit doesn’t linger much either, only a slight afterburn with a far too quick fadeaway for me. Again, the flavors are neither offensive nor exceptional.
Not to be overly repetitive this is an unexceptional and mostly bland spirit that I would drink this again if you bought it but I personally will not be buying it again myself; it is simply too uneventful for me to give it any real estate in my cabinet.
* Mezcalero: Gonzalo Martinez Sernas
* Date: June 2020
* Still Type: Clay
* Bottle: 269/449
* ABV: 47.54%A wonderful Ancestral expression, my first impressions are very good of this spirit. Sweeter flavors on the nose. Citrus is present but light. Balanced and not offensive.
Many flavors present but the most prominent are fresh roasted corn and slightly sour agave with a sweet blue cotton candy finish. Fruity, crisp and a overall solid and delightful pour.
Minerals from the spring water shine through and as well as the flavor of the clay still, this is probably best served in a copita. A treat to enjoy every rare once in a while during a special event/etc and overall an A- spirit.
* Lot: 03
* ABV: 48%Wild and grassy on the nose; too grassy for me and it has a strange undergone of something almost like rotting cardboard.
Bold wild flavors and little to no burn despite its ABV. Stone ground wheat, buffalo grass and heavy earthy clay soil. A better overall flavor than I expected from the nose. It’s also worth mentioning that it got a tiny bit better with time and resting.
Unbeatable price and the wife digs it so I keep it in stock for those 2 reasons alone. This is a B- sotol though compared to what all else is out there.
* Lot: 2
* Bottle: 276/343
* Liters: 259
* ABV: 48.6%Soft and sweet on the nose, sugary candy with a slight bit of mint. Intriguing!
Taste is complex; like fruit and nuts all picked at peak harvest, almost overly nutty. Fig, white pepper, pear and light, light strawberry. Sweet, maybe too sweet for me by just a tiny touch.
I personally prefer the Brocha but would I say “no” to a friend trying to hand me a pour of this? No lol, no I absolutely would not. Overall an A- spirit in my opinion.
* Lot: 70
* ABV: 48.51%Nose is great, very clean and crisp; ethanol, vanilla, ever so lightly spicy with a hint of smoke.
Wild flowers and roasted corn flavors. Fruity, maybe guava? it’s really a nice rollercoaster of mild flavors. Nice amount of linger on the back side too, fairly well balanced.
Something to keep as an introduction to my tequila drinking friends and the price point is right.
* Lot: 25
* Bottle: 109/150A *fantastic* Raicilla – Strong flavors, strong heat, tons of sweetness and just plain tasty. ABV is high (63%) but you would never know it.
Long finish and super palatable. The perfect amount of cooked agave and cheese funk and yet it somehow still delivers my desired smooth creaminess.
Lots of various fruits; barely any smoke and honestly the best Raicilla I think I’ve ever had. This is something that I will keep on hand until La Venenosa makes something better to replace it with. A+!
* Lot: YJ31-21
* Bottle: 3040/5100
* ABV: 48%I am someone who totally loves Pechugas and I was initially happy with this expression given its affordable price point.
Heavy (too heavy) allspice, cinnamon and apricot appear on the nose. These same flavors carry over to the palette with also ground pepper, sugary vanilla and a (far too light in my opinion) slight meaty hint on the backside.
It is also slightly visceral but again not oily enough (I’m sure from being part of such a large batch).
The finish is nice enough at first with the heavy spice ensemble shining through but it turns almost medicinal then dissipating into metallic before going away completely. It’s only slightly more pleasant than it sounds and overall it’s not totally offensive but definitely no where near as commanding/stout on flavor as a top-tier Pechuga (that of course also goes for 4x the price).
My bottle (and the finish) has mellowed after being open for about 6 weeks now so maybe resting this for a LONG time is the key… I enjoy this as an affordable sipper and as a nice introductory Pechuga to friends.
I’m jealous of people who have found this in the smaller (900 or less) batch runs as I never have. I will always be on the lookout for bottles numbered 1-50-ish as I assume the meaty flavors will be more pronounced and I do recommend it for the days you don’t want to pour up your more expensive Pechugas. An ok low-budget sipper if you can get past the rough finish.
* Harvest: 2014
* Edition: 07
* Bottle: 708/1030
* ABV: 47%An absolutely excellent Cuishe; I speculate that the long resting period this bottle has had really helped enhance the overall profile; I highly recommend buying a bottle, opening it and forgetting about it for 6 months.
The initial nose is high quality champagne and sugar water, a very inviting initial forward presentation.
Piloncillo, cinnamon, mild red pepper and the smallest hint of cloves are the first flavors to present themselves. A tad bit of tropical fruit come then wet stone round it out and leave an overall sophisticated and very enjoyable experience.
Nice mild lingering flavors of soil and vegetal clay keep drawing me back in for more. I really enjoyed this Cuishe, it’s one of my favorites for sure and I will definitely be quite sad once its gone.
