After a pour, the room is full of candied maguey, let alone the nose, powerful. The notes are tomatillo & jalapeno forward, before it settles into a smooth tobacco earthiness & a bright finish of kaffir lime. Plenty of variety in this flavor experience. Though I didn’t catch onto much of the cheesier notes I’m use to with many a proud Tepeztates, alongside La Jicarita’s Pechuga & Sierra Negra, this is another favorite addition to their lineup.
Full flavors of roasted agave & reminiscent meatiness. Leaves you with citrus & peppercorn. A unique mixed bag of lingering flavors.
The smell opens up the nose with a tangy sweetness. The taste differed, a salty lemon brine & fades into a lasting resinous flavor of cedar.
Comes in viscous with the vegetal notes of green pepper & a hint of cheesiness, then leaves with black pepper. For Tepeztate, it’s a bit one-dimensional, but when you’re not critiquing it for a mezcal review & enjoying it with friends, it still belongs to one of my favorite maguey.
Lot: TEJ450618
Lot 35, June 2018. Maestro: Delia Vargas Vieyra. A. Cupreata w/ turkey breast, deer & iguana meat.
Orange peel & roasted agave, the higher notes of star anise & clove, with the tannins of mulled wine. Doesn’t hold the robust meatiness nor the lingering sweetness of dried fruit that I often align with my favorite Pechugas, yet maintains the Don Mateo level of quality.
Like the day after a rain in the desert inspires the smells of aromatic chaparral. The creosote bush & desert sage rise from the dry beginnings.
As Michoacan is to Don Mateo, as is Don Mateo to Cupreata.