Notes of fruit and sugar on the nose. Delicious and approachable mezcal. Tastes a bit hot for 45.1% ABV but it doesn’t distract from the overall enjoyment. There are flavors of apple, honey, and lemon. Really delicious juice. Lot 04-TC

Amazingly floral, bright, and sugary. This Mexicano has some flavors of lime, roasted agave, grape, burnt caramel, and salt. Slightly hot finish. I’ve had a few excellent batches. One of the best Mexicanos I’ve ever tasted was batch 17J03-15. Unfortunately batch XA013-17 was a disappointment.

Not the biggest fan of aged mezcal but found this añejo very enjoyable. Copper on the nose with notes of honey and burnt orange. Subtle jalapeño and citrus. Lot 12-2000-C03

Bursting with bright botanical flavors and undertones of roasted agave. A very unique release as this is a “mezcal gin” and captures the best of both spirits. I’d normally never consider sipping a gin, but this can be considered a gin and is an incrediblely complex and full-flavored spirit that should be sought out and enjoyed.

Clay heavy on the nose. Peppery with caramel and clay on the palate. Not as complex or interesting as other arroqueños I’ve tried. Still, a tasty mezcal but not the best showing of this agave especially considering the rarity and price point.

Marshmallows and spring water on the nose. There is a reason this bottle is “special”.. buttery floral notes open up into soft flavors of roasted agave. The finish is soft with a bit of lemon zest and vanilla. Amazing mezcal. Buy a bottle or try while you can as this batch is small.

Peppery flavors are dominant in this strong Mexicano mezcal at 48.6% ABV. There are nice earthy tones with hints of firewood, peat, tangerine, and vanilla. Very enjoyable but definitely on the stronger side of Mexicanos. May 2013 Lot D5001-M.

Sipping this same bottle again in 2022, I stand by my rating.. but for different reasons. It’s just fine. It is a bit hot but overall it lacks complexity. The bottle has sat half full since 2017 and hasn’t changed for the better. I still get some of that peat and vanilla. 6 years later there are other Mexicanos I gravitate towards; this one just doesn’t seem unique.

Pepper, earth, and leather on the nose. Oily on the palate. Slight note of lime with flavors of carmelized agave, tobacco, leather, and vanilla. Very balanced and not too boozy for being a 50% ABV mezcal. The flavor profile is like an incredibly delicious and complex espadin. Haven’t tried many Arroqueno mezcals but excited to try more because this is amazing juice. Edition 4 from 2015 – Bottle 269/300.

A few of my mezcal buddies were not huge fans of this brand, but a bartender at Mosto in San Francisco really liked this Bozal and encouraged me to try it. I was delightfully surprised by this tobasiche. It’s floral and fruity. Very clean and not overpowering with a slightly perfumed finish.

Alipus makes some of my favorite casual sipping mezcal and while this is tasty it is not my favorite of their “single village” lineup. The San Juan has bright copper notes along with ash and wood. There are some dry citrus notes. The finish is smooth and slightly metallic. Lot SJR109/15.

Earth, wood, leather, vegetal notes, and a bit of pepper on the nose. The taste is the nice definition of a wild karwinskii mezcal: bright flavors of fruit and caramel. This is very approachable and supremely enjoyable. Lot DS004-C from Feb. 2014

Very clean on the nose with hints of roasted agave like a tequila. On the palate there are notes of lime, copper, burnt agave, and subtle honey. I am curious to try a 100% lumbre mezcal as the flavors are quite interesting here.

The espadin was the first Vago mezcal I tasted and it gave me a bad impression of the brand. The August 2015 batch from Aquilino was like drinking gasoline – very boozy! Since that time I tried many of Aquilino’s other Vago mezcals (Tepextate, Mexicano) and they are among my favorites. When I saw a bottle of December 2014 espadin on a shelf recently I purchased it and was blown away.

That batch of espadin is bursting with sweet agave flavors and while it is a high ABV it goes down easy.. too easy in fact. My family and I polished off the entire bottle over the holidays. If you see that batch, buy it. The new espadin from Joel Barriga is good as well. I’d put that in the middle between the two aforementioned Aquilino espadins. That’s an aspect of the Vago brand that makes it so interesting; all the batch information is on the bottle and each one is a new experience.

Very straightforward sweet and smoky espadin. I hear the batches can vary greatly in quality. The mezcal I sipped was enjoyable. Notes of sweet apple and caramel are prominent. From my limited tastings of the two El Silencio mezcals I enjoy this more than the joven ensamble.

Dangerously easy to drink. Classic espadin notes and full of fruity sweetness. Lots of mint, rose water, and lemon flavors. Kind of a high price point compared to other delicious espadins but very good. Batch 2012-3

A good mixer and a okay sipper. This mezcal has notes of honey, copper, smoke, orange peel, and butter. I like using this as a mixer because at 45% ABV the flavors don’t get “muddled” down in a cocktail. It’s good for spirit-forward cocktails like an old fashioned. Don’t see a batch number on the bottle but it has a real cork whereas the newer bottles have with a plastic top cork. For a few bucks more I’d recommend this over the espadin because the reposado aging masks some of the chemical notes found in Gracias a Dios mezcals.

One of my all-time favorite mezcals, in particular the 90/10 blend of Mexicano and Espadin from Aquilino Garcia Lopez, distilled in October 2014. This is a hot mezcal at 50.2% ABV and it’s dangerously tasty. It’s very bright on the nose with floral notes and subtle earthiness. There are bursting flavors of roasted agave, vanilla bean, cotton candy, lemon, pepper, and sage. This was a fairly large batch (for mezcal) at 841 liters so there are quite a few bottles out there.

The other Mexicano I’ve had is 100% Mexicano from January 2016, lot A-01-M-16. This Mexicano is delicious but does not have the complexity of the aforementioned ensamble; it’s a 4 star for me. It’s soft with a finishing bite, floral with light fruit.

The Wahaka Madre-Cuishe was the first mezcal I ever tried that wasn’t made from agave espadin and it opened up my eyes (and palate) to the vast world of mezcal. It was my mezcal “aha” moment. This mezcal is an easy sipper at 42% ABV which is low for a wild-agave sipping mezcal. On the nose there is a lot of fruit. It’s soft on the palate. There are some nice mineral notes along with flavors of charred honey, banana, rosewater, and bubblegum. Certainly a great mezcal to put near the front of a tasting and a perfect one to share with friends new to mezcal. LOTE: ORGULLO-10-AMM

Smells like dirt in a good way, think “fresh earth”. This is a unique madrecuishe and the mezcalero is not listed on the bottle. The Juan is very balanced on the palate with flavors notes of peppermint, wood, and fruit. My favorite of the three Chango Loco mezcals. Lot 201.

Pine and mint are at the forefront here along with some nice notes of dry apple cider, vinegar, pepper, and citrus. Hot finish. Delicious and unique mezcal.