The guys behind MalBien connected me with Oscar, whose family makes this, and I was able to visit him and his palenque in San Dionisio on my last trip to Oaxaca. They weren’t distilling that week, but he walked me through their process. I know this is a “cocktail” mezcal so I was expecting the set up to be bigger or more of a factory, but I was really surprised by how similar it was to all the other smaller producers we’ve seen. As Oscar explained it, these guys just work more days out of the year.
We tasted the latest batch of espadín that they were bottling (don’t remember the number) – Lots of tropical fruit sweetness and acidity, some earthy/vegetal flavors, and smoke in the background.
Oscar also tasted us on a batch of tobalá that was pretty good, and a batch that was rested with some local herbs that was really cool – kind of like a oaxacan apertivo/digestivo that he says his mom’s family has been making forever.
Great espadín. Great people.

Lalo’s tobalas were our second favorite (after tobaziche) when my GF and I visited Lalocura last month, but really hard to say one was better than the other. We tried two different kinds of tobala that grow in the area, and an older batch that had been kept in a small clay jug for 6 months or so. All 3 were great in their own ways. all three were very soft bodied with varying degrees of acidity ranged from very minimal to super bright on one of the newer batches. Lots of different green notes – grassy, sweet peas, sweet peppers and green apple acidity. Each one was very special in its own way.

Truly, the best mezcal I’ve ever had. My girlfriend and I spent a whole afternoon visiting the Lalocura palenque, seeing the process and tasting through 12(!!) different expressions with Berenice who works there. Towards the end, Lalo introduced himself and we tasted 4 more that he had in his house. All of the expressions were incredible, but the Tobasiche stood out to both of us as the winner of the day. Lots of tried herbs – oregano, sage, and thyme, along with a bunch of woody flavors. It managed to have a creamy texture that I usually think of with something sweeter, while also being really dry. We bought a bottle, but I already wish we’d gotten 2.