Recent reviews

Batch 00323BE046 40% Sampled on 10 2024. Aromas out of the bottle are a little better on this one. I’m getting some sweet fruit.Almost no smoke almost no alcohol. The flavor follows. It still is very watered down, but clean. And enjoyable, with light fruit, almost no smoke and alcohol out of the 3 400 Conejos that I tried.This is probably my favorite. I will say the straight espadine is the least watered down and the tobala and cuishe are the more water down of the three.

Batch 00323BE046 40% Sampled on 10 2024. Aromas out of the bottle are very light fruit and wet fireplace. Flavors are very watered down, but kind of enjoyable.
This is a very simple one dimensional drink, but better than the joven. A nice, clean finish that I could see using in a cocktail

Batch 00323BE046 40% sampled on 10 2024. Aromas out of the bottle, are light fruit. No smoke and just a little bit of acetone. Something a little sour comes across in the aroma, too. Well, the flavors are far better than I had expected. I get light bandade, wet fire and something just a little green and sour at the end. For the price point and what this was intended for, it’s pretty good. I’ve had more expensive espadine’s that were on the same level as this.

Lot T-033; bottle 321/666.
Enjoyed at Los Danzantes Oax.
Lightly sweet, smooth and sippable. Young, raw agave on the nose. Hints of subtle cooked agave on the pallet. Very easy to drink, nothing stands out either.

Batch JAJA524-1 and 2, both 48.3% abv

Review #183+1

Sola de vega (1)-
The nose has sweet motor oil, clay, dry wood, leather, and dried herbs.
The palate has clay, wood, motor oil, medicinal herbals, cinnamon, coffee, and on the finish black pepper, and dry ash.

This is the weaker of the two for me by a lot. I find a bit too many brash notes on this for me to want to reach for something like this often. It is a rather dark profile with it’s industrial/medicinal notes. I just feel like I’m missing something from it for those notes to be balanced for me.

6.5/10

Chichicapam (2)-
The nose has peanuts, mulch, dark chocolate, brown sugar, earthy, lime, touch of funky cheese
Palate- milk chocolate caramel, brown sugar, vanilla bean, lime, hard to pick out but a soft melon fruity sweetness, and the finish is earthy, mulch, dark chocolate, and coffee.

This one is more my speed. The darker notes are fantastic with the savory nuts and dark chocolate. There’s these touches of lactic funk and sugary and fruity sweetness that peek through that make this super interesting and delicious. Extremely well balanced with plenty of intensity and that touch of weirdness. I love it. I’ll give this review the rating i would give this one.

9/10

Batch 0520ER

Review #182:
The nose has green melon, lime, fresh cut grass, pine, green jolly rancher
The palate has lime, lemon oils, asparagus, fresh grass, and black pepper.

A very clean expression from sierra negra. The classic fresh ramos profile is always very enjoyable.

Batch JAENCO524, 48.4% abv

Review #181:
The nose has coffee, butterscotch, caramel, brown banana, vanilla, clay, milk chocolate, leather, and brown sugar.
The palate has caramel, vanilla, brown banana, clay, coffee, leather, cinnamon, chipotle pepper, milk chocolate, and some ashy smoke and dry wood on the finish.

I was honestly not digging this too much at first. I felt it was very one note with all the confectionery flavors, but then this over-ripe banana hit me and tied it all together. The pepper on the palate is very welcome to give a nice contrast to the sweetness of this along with the wood and ash. Overall i am glad to have come around to this one, not super complex but great flavors that I’m a sucker for.

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 back a bit and muting it. Nice stuff but doesn’t have any strength behind it.

Nose: lemon lime, oranges, salt water, pickled mangoes, cucumber, bell peppers

Palate and finish: great continuation of the nose to the palate. Plenty of mango fruits, kiwi, mandarin oranges, as it moves to the finish it’s got a more vegetal with a sort earthy and woody element to it. The woody part is an aspect I haven’t experienced much. This leads to a a bitter grapefruit and green banana finish.

It’s unique but not in a way that isn’t easy to drink. Really good stuff and well done by Cuca and Rodrigo

I’m really loving the stuff that Reynaldo is producing and the integration of the rawhide fermentation is super solid! And this one integrates cement fermentation which is super unique as well. I feel like 5S had to be sure about this one to have it replace the old Sierra Negra from Alberto Martinez that is so highly acclaimed and they didn’t miss!

A lot of the same flavor characteristics as Alberto’s, funky, earthy, some sweetness/fruitiness in there, and a bit lactic. However, this one takes it a bit further and is a bit more complex in my opinion. There’s a bit of slate flavor in there from the cement and it also gives it a very dry texture on the backend. The rawhide fermentation doesn’t overpower here. The clay pot flavor comes through and makes it feel like Alberto’s batches. The label says it was cooked for 23 days which is a long cook and the smoke is really solid here.

I actually like this more than Alberto’s Sierra negra and am really glad I bought this bottle.

No bottle # or batch #. 42.1% aromas out of the bottle or lemoncello, lemon, sweet, lemon and everything about lemon. I’ve never had a mezcal like this. This is absolutely glorious in every flavor that a lemon could possibly have. I’ve never come across anything like this. I’m guessing the recipe has changed from what I see. In other reviews, this is the newest version I think. I absolutely love this stuff. This could be a substitute for a vodka Lemonade or just about anything you want to add a glorious lemonade, flavor to. Take a new twist on mezcal.This stuff’s outrageous

Date: April 2018
Lot: 4
Bottle: 363/800
Liters: 600
ABV: 48%
Vol. 3B. Light on the nose with hints of an herbal sweetness. Taste of herbal pepper that dives into mint and has a long finish of a mint taste and sensation. Oily mouthfeel but still very light and delicate.

LOT J-14-E-21 50.5% Alc.

Nose: sweet fruits like pear & peach

Palate: smooth in the mouth with hints of honey, a bit of clay and citrus.

Lovely mezcal to enjoy straight

Good price / quality ratio making it a fine mezcal for mixing, although it tends to lose some of its strength when pored into a cocktail. Hints of fruit & clay in the nose, some honey on the palate, not too smokey.

Batch JATM0524
On the nose I get a great mix of both the green, earthy tep notes and that spicy/peppery mexicano. Definitely get the deep, chocolate notes as well.
On the taste do not get much of the tepeztate notes (which is a shame as that’s my favorite agave). Some minty, clean freshness on the finish. Do not get as much of the clay, leather funkiness like on the other bottles from this brand either. Hard to even know this is clay distilled! Really unique offering compared to the rest of Creador’s lineup.
Review #234

Lote: JAMC0524
Nose: light banana with that clay/rawhide note I’ve become familiar with here. Sweet on the taste! This seems to be much more creamy and lactic on the mouthfeel than other varietals from this brand – like frosting or whipped cream with strawberries! One of my favorite from the latest releases! 4.25
Review #234

Batch 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.

Lot: 100L-10-1-21-46.1. Abv: 46.1%

Picked up this bottle at K&L Wines. Nose brings out mint and morning dew, dried fruit juice. Palate has a bit more funk as well as watermelon rind, cucumber, spearmint, cocoa nibs, earthiness, and green tea. A bit stringent on the backend but also some subtle sweetness. Pleasant and warm, not too hot. Agree with Jam and relevanteagle that there may be some lactic/milk vibes. Worth going on a journey with this agave spirit. 4.25/5

Pretty basic Espadín. Alcohol. Agave. Vanilla. Would be serviceable as a mixer. Pedro Hernández. Lot 15/19.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this spirit. A little bit of smoke on the nose, but on the palate a nice black pepper, piñon, pineapple– kind of reminded me of white gravy, but obviously a lot lighter. A great starter Mezcal.