Creador Tobala is produced by maestro palenquero José Alberto Pablo in San Bernardo Mixtepec, Oaxaca.
About this destilado de agave
Creador Tobala is produced by maestro palenquero José Alberto Pablo in San Bernardo Mixtepec, Oaxaca. This small-batch 100% agave expression was cooked in an underground river rock-lined stone oven for 5 days, milled by hand with wood mallets (mazos) in a hollowed tree trunk (canoa), fermented 3-5 days in half-buried 90-liter clay pots, and twice distilled in 60-liter clay pots. The all-clay fermentation and distillation process makes this mezcal unique from most commercially available mezcals.
The agaves for batch JATO0524 were harvested in the wild at Santa Ana Tlapacoyan, near San Bernardo Mixtepec, Oaxaca, and took 12-14 years to reach maturity. Produced in June 2023, this is José Alberto’s first batch of Tobalá in nearly 5 years. Of the 240 liters that were originally made, 100 of those liters made it to export due to the popularity in the community of José Alberto’s Tobalá.
Creador Agave Spirits
Creador Agave Spirits seeks out independent family producers who have little to no representation outside of their local markets – producers who want to make a transition to full-time production of destilado and need help getting their agave spirits to market.
Creador strives to support palenqueros and their communities by providing autonomy for the producers, as well as fair pricing. The company does not contractually obligate producers, nor negotiate price – what the palenqueros ask, they pay, and the company will advise if they think the spirits are underpriced. Creador profit-shares with the producers, providing transparency into the complex economics of selling spirits into the tiered alcohol-distribution systems prevalent in the US.
Creador translates to “creator” and is an homage to the artisan creators of agave spirits, and a tribute to the creators and makers in us all. De la mano y el corazón – from the hand and the heart.
You can now order Creador directly to your door.
Review this bottle
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Jonny
738 reviewsBatch JAT00524. The clay fermentation/distillation really comes through a lot on the nose of this mezcal. It has heavy aromas of clay, slate, sandalwood, walnut, and allspice. There’s also a strong lemon aroma. The palate is somewhat sweet with similar hints of clay and wood, but additionally with notes of lemon oil, leather, and eucalyptus. Both the nose and palate have notes that remind of essential oils, where the single flavor/aroma is distilled down to it’s essence.
JDB
190 reviewsAbv: 48.5% Batch: JAT00524
Two ounce sample. Floral aromas and fruit leather. Palate has some of that fruit and floral character. Flavors are sweet and tart, almost like artificial sweeteners, with herbal notes like mint, chalk, and a 70s aftershave note on the backend. (Old Spice? Aqua Velva? Brut?) Hard to place this one, not my jam, but could be for others as the reviews above show.
Jam
184 reviewsBatch JAT00524, 48.5% abv
Review #180: The nose has orange blossoms, lemon pledge, mango skin, and clay.
The palate has orange blossom, lemon oils, lavender, mint syrup, sage, oregano, and clay.
The nose on this one is a bit lackluster, the aromas are just too faint. The notes on this are nice and pretty, though. I get a fun mix of floral and herbal notes without it getting sweet or medicinal. And while the clay isn’t too dominant, it still feels like the clay on here is holding the tobala back a bit and muting it. Nice stuff but doesn’t have any strength behind it.
Batch JAT00524, 48.5% abv
Review #180: The nose has orange blossoms, lemon pledge, mango skin, and clay.
The palate has orange blossom, lemon oils, lavender, mint syrup, sage, oregano, and clay.
The nose on this one is a bit lackluster, the aromas are just too faint. The notes on this are nice and pretty, though. I get a fun mix of floral and herbal notes without it getting sweet or medicinal. And while the clay isn’t too dominant, it still feels like the clay on here is holding the tobala
Ben P
149 reviewsBatch JAT00524 ABV: 48.5%
Nose: tennis balls, at first the typical Tobala fruit, underripe mango, kiwi skins, plenty of clay on this, some lemon lime elements
Palate and Finish: nice minerality and clay, mulch, a bit of fruit stew, this feels so tight, it feels like there is tons of flavor packed in I can’t get to, finish is figs, plum, a bit of clay.
There is nothing wrong with this one but it just doesn’t stand out for me.
El Dawg
237 reviewsLote: JAT00524
Musty leather on the nose. Light burned caramel cream.
More leather, clay, minerality, nuttiness, on the taste with some ‘fizzy sprite’ texture. Only get some of that familiar tobala sweetness though. As mentioned below the earthiness and mustiness on the taste is a bit too much /overpowering on this one for me, and I don’t seem to get many of the great notes I’m used to w/ a tobala (this could easily be a different varietal). The aftertaste is pleasant though and overall this is interesting and wouldn’t be something I normally reach to. 3.25
Review #229
Lote: JAT00524
Musty leather on the nose. Light burned caramel cream.
More leather, clay, minerality, nuttiness, on the taste with some ‘fizzy sprite’ texture. Only get some of that familiar tobala sweetness though. As mentioned below the earthiness and mustiness on the taste is a bit too much /overpowering on this one for me, and I don’t seem to get many of the great notes I’m used to w/ a tobala (this could easily be a different varietal). The aftertaste is pleasant
little agave
72 reviewsTobala Jose Alberto Pablo 48.5% Batch JAT00524
aroma: very aromatic, floral. up front a minty tropical fruit. blackberry. milk chocolate butterfinger, custard. plastic.
palette: getting floral water lavender papaya. cherrywood. rather different ride with this tobala than others i’ve tried. while for the aroma is pleasant, as I sit with this I’m finding a mineral profile that is overpowering in my mouth. this is a time and place for me, probably a 1 time pour before I move on to others type because it’s too odd.
Tobala Jose Alberto Pablo 48.5% Batch JAT00524
aroma: very aromatic, floral. up front a minty tropical fruit. blackberry. milk chocolate butterfinger, custard. plastic.
palette: getting floral water lavender papaya. cherrywood. rather different ride with this tobala than others i’ve tried. while for the aroma is pleasant, as I sit with this I’m finding a mineral profile that is overpowering in my mouth. this is a time and place for me, probably a 1 time pour before I move on to other
Bryen
101 reviewsAt first taste, this one was not for me. But the more I sipped, the more I actually enjoyed this. Reminds me a lot of a Tobala I sampled in Minas last year. Super lemony/citrusy on the nose and palette for this one. Almost like limoncello but far less sweet. Again, the clay pot minerality adds some great texture and earthiness to this. Really unique flavor profile, smoked Sprite haha another solid release. Really diggin this brand!
EDIT: Just saw the review below me that this smells like Benedictine– which I think they meant BETADINE lol– and that’s so accurate haha!
At first taste, this one was not for me. But the more I sipped, the more I actually enjoyed this. Reminds me a lot of a Tobala I sampled in Minas last year. Super lemony/citrusy on the nose and palette for this one. Almost like limoncello but far less sweet. Again, the clay pot minerality adds some great texture and earthiness to this. Really unique flavor profile, smoked Sprite haha another solid release. Really diggin this brand!
EDIT: Just saw the review below me that this smells like Benedic
muchachomezcal
47 reviewsJAT00524
*Reviewing from a sample. Normally I love Tobala, but I’m thrown off by this one*
Aroma is rubber eraser.
Palette – Saline, herbaceous, with little to no sweetness. There is a bitter yuzu fruit note that finishes strong with pine notes. Tastes like someone bottled a mid Bacanora and mislabeled it. I will have to try this from the bottle if I ever see it at a bar.
Forpowder
122 reviewsBatch JAT00524 48.5% Sampled on 10/ 2024. Mescalero jose alberto pablo. Aromas, out of the bottle, are very clean. Almost nonexistent.
Light Benedictine, aroma. Super subtle with some damp moss and wet earth, and you still get that clay. This is like no other spirit I’ve ever had. It’s like drinking a cloud, it’s super light wispy and almost ghosts like and how it disappears, so clean. I’ve never had a tobola that tasted like this. Great job, guys. This is amazing. Ide gladly have a bottle of this in my collection. After sampling a little more, i’m getting cinnamon allspice nutmeg and all the great brown flavor of agave, that’s been cooked, just perfectly. And the mouth feel on this one is super coating. It’s one of the things I really like about a quality mezcal. This tobala is fantastic.
Batch JAT00524 48.5% Sampled on 10/ 2024. Mescalero jose alberto pablo. Aromas, out of the bottle, are very clean. Almost nonexistent.
Light Benedictine, aroma. Super subtle with some damp moss and wet earth, and you still get that clay. This is like no other spirit I’ve ever had. It’s like drinking a cloud, it’s super light wispy and almost ghosts like and how it disappears, so clean. I’ve never had a tobola that tasted like this. Great job, guys. This is amazing. Ide gl