Update: tasting this again from a batch just imported (sorry, did not catch the batch this time either). This is a very nice tobalá! Lime, flint and loft on the nose. Quince, toffee and herbs in a nice balance. Great price point.

No batch I’m afraid, but I had a recent one with the blue label. It’s nice, a bit like DM’s tobalà (which I like a lot) but a bit thinner. This is written in retrospect, but I’d say: reading the other reviewers’ opinion I think this bottle deserves a second chance.

Intriguing nose, no alcohol vapours, just a perfumey pine and green pepper aroma.
Palate strikes with a bit jalapeño and sweet agave fruit, peppery pear, light smoke. Well integrated alcohol, the bottle was just opened, so it is probably well rested before bottling. Nice aftertaste

Lot 30, April 2021. I had to rewrite this review after finally buying a full bottle. Popping the cork releases a smell of fromage blanc dessert with lemon, along with light smoke. From the glass, clay aroma and some hay are added. A fruit explosion follows on the palate, sour at first like fried bananas with greek yoghurt, but then the sourness is turning sweeter, with mascarpone cheese, papaya, charred pineapple, peach, lemon rind preserves. Eventually parboiled strawberries are dominating for a second, before a brief notion of proper Italian tiramisù with pastry cream, cocoa powder and amaretto. Finish starts with a hint of china bark and dried basil adding a nice herbal touch for balance. It’s triggering a vague memory of mezcal from Michoacán, perhaps? The aftertaste lingers forever.
It is simply amazing that it has been distilled with just a single pass, in clay pot stills. The sour aspect is the only thing that could possibly be polarising about this raicilla, because the craftsmanship is just excellent. I love it more for every sip.

Pleasant and vibrant bacanora. We are nearly in sotol territory with earthiness and herbal qualities dominating the nose and palate to begin with, eventually lychee and peel of Seville oranges like an old fashioned British marmalade. Some pine needles and leather blends with a fruity finish.
Batch 1-2/17, 420 litres produced.

Pmy 002. Nice mezcal, no paint thinner on the nose of this batch, quite smoky. Marzipan, toffee and agave fruit, some ash on the finish. A bit like a Chichicapa I’d say. Lacking a bit in structure, and the alcohol is slightly harsh towards the finish. I suppose I’d merely use it as a mixer too if I owned a bottle, but it should work well. This bottle was gifted to a friend so no idea about the price level. Shrouded in rock and roll mythology also across the Atlantic, but I’ve never seen it for sale anywhere here in Europe.

My first attempt at a Mezcal from cultivated tobalá (at least that I know of). Some copper and toffee notes makes you think it is an espadin. Fruit is less pear, lime and or quince that I usually get from tobalás. Solid bottle, but the Montelobos ensamble, made of cultivated papalote/cupreata, espadin and tobalá is way more rewarding in flavours, and at a lower price.

This is a liqueur, so my four stars hail from a different galaxy than those for rating mezcals and a crema serves a different purpose than a mezcal. Just as a Frenchman would never try and convince his guests that a pineau de Charentes is a cognac, a Mexican would probably not try and convince you this should be compared with mezcals. Serve a bit chilled with strong blue cheese and rye/caraway biscuits. Or with a dessert that has some acidity.

Vanilla, subdued cinnamon, baked apple and agave sweetness. Smoke in the background, a bit like drinking a Drambuie.

Earthy and complex workhorse of an espadin. One star extra for the price. Some vanilla and woody smoke on the nose, but balanced. Baked apple and subdued agave fruit, cloves and mild smoke.

Smells of straw, subdued smoke, a bit vanilla over some alcohol. Medium mouthfeel, some honey-covered peanuts, fruity. Solid.

Lots of tarragon on the nose, tanned leather, a bit acetone and fried chicken.
A bit harsh at first, on opening the bottle, letting it rest in the glass for 15 minutes was necessary, but very effectful.
On the palate you’d think a pechuga for a second, but then it leans towards more barbecue sauce and guajilo chili. Also a fantastic layer of tropical fruit throughout, before the herbs come back towards the finish with tarragon, thyme and white pepper. Nice coating effect, medium mouthfeel but not oily.

As usual, I am excited to see what happens to the bottle in a few weeks.

DS013-J from September 2019.

Another amazing bottle from the northernmost states certified for the mezcal label. It is not quite as idiosyncratic as Derrumbes’ San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas, but still full of character and I imagine it is a specific fruitiness with the cenizo that I’d be able to recognize in other expressions.
Aromas of leather, freshly chalked blackboard, yellow marshland straws in the early autumn, honeysuckle and lilacs.
In the mouth, first a strike of cucumber-infused water turning into notes of bramble, black cherries and vanilla. If that sounds like a dessert it’s not meant to be, because it is somewhat astringent and dry, yet with sweet flavours in the way only a few, unaged spirits of good quality can bring about. On the aftertaste, leather and spice returns from the nostrils down to the palate. No regrets getting a whole bottle, and I suspect it will mellow even more over time.
Lot 9, January 2020.

Great, earthy mezcal. If the proportions of this ensamble really are 80/20 espadin/madrecuishe, the karwinskii nuts and wood flavours are certainly there. Well balanced with fruit and toffee sweetness of the espadin. It deserves more detailed tasting notes, so go ahead and try it.

Really unique experience, it tastes like Del Maguey’s San Pablo Ameyaltepec with a layer of lactic-grassy sourness adding complexity. Smells of plum, light ash and herb. Very creamy mouthfeel, peach and apricot with mint and coconut cream at first, then a slightly tart pineapple flavour with full fat kefir notions — a bit like a very creamy lassi drink made on peach and pineapple instead of the usual mango. Some pine needle saponin aroma too.
If this is indeed the same juice as 5 Sentidos Pizorra (that I have not tasted) I completely agree with Rakhal that it feels like a raicilla meeting Caribbean cane juice rhum.
Batch from January 2019.

The first time I had this someone confused it with the Tigre and warned me that I was in for an überfunky experience of blue cheese and vinegar. But while the Sur is certainly rustic, it is absolutely not very acidic in the flavour profile. It has a slightly sour and mineral smell that reminds me of where marshland meets a rocky, mountain lake, but the fruity notes dominates. Medium to thin mouthfeel, but nice flavours of torched agave, leaning towards a vegetal freshness rather than espadin sweetness. A bit short aftertaste. I like it, nice bottle for introducing raicilla to someone. EDIT: Several batches down the road, I have to say it’s a very consistent quality; writing in 2023 the later two have had more fruit sweetness and better structure while remaining true to its concept. Really worth a try, there are no other raicilla quite like it.

Strong whiff of light, untreated leather of some kind, with slate and grass, antiquity store and raisin. Brazil nuts! Caramelised Brazil nuts indeed, with figs and plums. And some of that espadin butterscotch blending extremely well with the woody tobaziche/karwinskii character of this ensamble. Lovely spicy aftertaste, like Christmas spices spiked with mild habanero (I suppose Americans call it baking spices).Near perfection.

A bit harsh nose at first, with acetone and minerality. Eventually, some unglazed clay, and something reminding me of boiled carrots with herbs and unripe mango.
On the palate it tastes rather of green herbs and leafs than the nutty, woody flavours I often get with karwinskiis. A bit agave fruit but not a lot. A bit of dried guajillo flavours lingers — as in some bitterness/fruit/spice potpourri. No lot number but the bottle was full so it’s probably worth trying again in a few weeks. Decent mezcal anyhow.

002-TEP of 2012. Funky and briny jalapeños tingling the nose. Tastes of green Madagascar peppercorns, chayote and carambole, a little bit of toffee. Good structure.

IPE003-4, not among the most recent batches.
Gluey nose, with black peppercorns. Nice aromas of plum and tobacco, but too harsh overall for me to detail out the more subtle flavours at length. There are nice things to say about it, but something is not quite right here. Structure is good, but it’s hard to understand it was meant to be this rough. Everything fruity is so masked that it’s hardly recognisable.

002-MEX from 2012, by Valentin Cortes.
Smells of fresh hay in a field with wild flowers, chocolate and a light barnyard funk.
Malt, a bit grass, followed by blackberries and vanilla. Lots of subdued, chocolate-y spice. Great mezcal, and a super interesting well of flavours. A bit overly dry finish for a full score, though.

Lot III (T3-1 on back label)
Quite an improvement! Same aromas, but significantly better. 44,9% ABV and I get quite the “cold milk” of Rakhal. Skimmed milk to be precise. It’s like everything is levelled up, to a better result.

Lot 3/19 — Slate and grass aromas. White peppercorns; slight, fruity yoghurt kick like an Indian lassi; cider apples, with a hint of vanilla. Some herbs and smoke on the finish. Light taste, a bit short — but still good value. Could be a nice gateway raicilla.