Lalocura Tobasiche is made by maestro mezcalero Eduardo “Lalo” Angeles, who produces some of the most well-renowned mezcal in all of Oaxaca.
About this mezcal
Lalocura Tobasiche is made with the tall and slender maguey Tobasiche (Agave karwinskii), also called Largo in the same region. Lalo cooks the agave in an underground pit oven with Encino wood, mashes the cooked agave by hand with wooden mallets, ferments the agave in cypress tubs in the open air for nine days, and double distills this mezcal in small clay pots.
The Agave Mixtape vol. 6 release was labeled as Tobasiche de Monte. The Maguey Tobasiche plants used in that batch grew wild in the hills above Lalo’s town of Santa Catarina Minas. It was distilled in January 2019, during the driest time of the year when the plants’ sugars are most concentrated. It is slightly sweeter and carries less of the bitter aftertaste that can be found in other releases of this type.
Agave Mixtape
Agave Mixtape brings the best agave spirits together in one place – your place. Agave Mixtape is a subscription based service. Subscribers receive boxes with three 200ml bottles from three different brands – Lalocura, Mal Bien, and Neta (and maybe a few surprises) – filled with batches picked especially for Agave Mixtape, and not available anywhere else in the USA. Each box includes production notes on the batches, along with links to photos, and virtual tastings with the people behind the brands and the mezcaleros. You can subscribe directly from their website.
Lalocura Mezcal
Before starting Lalocura in 2014, Eduardo “Lalo” Ángeles spent years working as the fourth generation master mezcalero of his family’s brand Real Minero, where he combined a lifetime of working under his father, the late, great Don Lorenzo with a collegiate degree in agricultural engineering. Many Real Minero bottles from several years ago actually have Eduardo listed alongside his father as the master distiller. Lalocura’s clay pot distilled mezcals have built a steady cult following over the last few years. People from around the world show up at the palenque in Santa Catarina Minas each day hoping to spend time listening to Lalo tell stories while they taste the 20+ expressions he has resting in glass at any given time. If you like clay pot distilled mezcal and you like Real Minero, it’s highly recommended that you find some Lalocura.
Read about our visit to Lalocura in the blog post A Tour with Oaxacking: Mezcal Lalocura
Lalo of Lalocura talks about the history of tobasiche in Santa Catarina Minas, how the plant varies by region, and what he’s doing to ensure it has a future.
Review this bottle
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Mansson
71 reviewsLot L 11 lar 3, distilled 2017. “Lalo” Ángeles made batches for the Sacapalabras label in the past; this batch (with exactly the same number) was bottled also for his own brand Lalocura. I have both versions; this review is from a Sacapalabras bottle. It’s very good, with a plethora of flavours: herbs (rosemary, thyme), coffee and baking spices. I’m a big fan of Lalo’s distillates, but this one is perhaps lacking a bit of sweetness to earn a higher score.
Rorschach
43 reviewsOh yeah, good stuff. Resisted the temptation of rubbing it on my chest.
Chris
40 reviewsReally solid in all respects. Better than the El J tobasiche IMHO. But if you are thinking Lalo, his Tep is much more complex. The depth in the middle of the Tep extends on the palette. The tobasiche kind of drops out and I would say this is true with other karwinskis. I really like the El J barril but it is a bit flat in the middle too. The exception, so far, is the RM largo made by other members of Lalo’s family about a mile away from his palenque.
NickSanford
23 reviewsThis is my favorite out of the Lalocura line. The first taste I get is a slight blueberry that gets blended with a nice BBQ type of spice that ends with a nice layer of coconut cream on the end of it making it a really delightful layered Tobasiche.
GreenspointTexas
385 reviewsReminds me of the first time I heard Bone Thugs East 1999 album. The first time I had Truth BBQ brisket. The first Texas/Oklahoma game I went to. The first time I saw Jurassic park.
Almost flawless expression of my favorite agave
COak
238 reviewsJanuary 2019.
I tried this against his father’s RM Largo, one of my favorites, and it’s amazing. It has such a complexity, so full. This is one of Lalo’s backbone Mezcals
Rakhal
430 reviewsLot 09. Excellent Tobaziche!!! Very complex! Thyme, sage, cilantro, coconut milk and clove. Very creamy.
Nic Hnastchenko
109 reviewsFirst notes are dandilion.
Revisited. Just a completely different profile from what I got the first time around. Very nutty.