Leather, allspice, citrus peel on the nose. A bit alcohol.

Very pleasant palate, vegetal notes making me think about a dish of chayote and moritas. Some nuts and agave fruitiness, not too much of the peanut and coconut skin I associate with tobasiche. Balanced and very tasty, although there are other tobasiches offering more flavours.

Cocoa and fruity chili, a bit pine needle hint on the nose too.

Chocolate and floral hints, maybe chamomile, blended with some figs or perhaps dried apricot, agave fruitiness is there but not prominent. Some camphorous notes. Nice.

Very pleasant smell, some perfumey tonka and amber — or a hint of barnyard funk if you like.

Woody on the palate, not so much fruit, but elegant and balanced. This mezcal has a personality of elegance and subtle flavours of cedar, walnut, macadamia, cucumber and vague notes of lemon peel. The aftertaste follows suit, a bit short and maybe a bit tart but still very pleasant.

Mineral nose, a bit herbal, some toffee and something woody/nutty.

On the palate, it is really interesting; maguey lumbre could very well be a karwinskii. There are flavours of macadamia and coconut, but also a herbal character reminding me more about other juices. Also some citrus rinds, and green apples, not to mention leather and tobacco. Great mezcal.

Lot MK007/18LUM

Orange flowers, some incense I am unable to further describe, subdued smoke and bitter orange peels. Most interesting nose.

A bit pepper, quite smooth and good mouthfeel. Overripe cantaloupe, flamed orange peel. Dark chocolate, and a hint of herbs that makes me think about unmalted barley in Irish single pot still whiskey. Actually, I get flavours as if I quaff a Redbreast 15 whilst eating dark orange chocolate. It’s only the slightly abrupt finish that stops this from being a full score.

Lot 3, October 2017, bottle says amole and americana, presumably agave vilmoriniana if “amole” does not refer to something entirely different in Tamaulipas than elsewhere (which could of course be the case).

Aromas of leather, slate, tobacco, mango skins and hard cheese rinds — softer than it might sounds.
A bit harsh from the bottle’s first pour, but settles quickly. Almonds and pistachios like in a Turkish baklava, lovely blend of fruit and herbs/sweet spice, especially figs and succade (candied lemon peels), black cardamoms, dried thyme. Integrated alcohol and really, really special. Great price too. This bottle has a lot in common with the Alipus Destilado en barro and is a unique style I’d love to stock. I’ll go for this one. A bit funkier and a bit more dried fruits, so richer all in all. Others would say Alipus is crisper and more focused.

Lot S-02-EC-19 March 2019, 80% espadin, 20% coyote

Incredible kick on the nose with lemon sherbet, faint hint of smoke, pine needle and the whiff you get when served flamed French pancakes.
A herbal kick of rosemary and pine first strikes the palate, then lemon tart, followed by saponin and guava. Medium viscous mouthfeel. Very well integrated alcohol, and very rich and full flavoured. It is hardly fair to mention it is only 40% ABV, because this tastes very well calculated and balanced. The character (not the flavours) reminds me of a refrescador tepextate, I would not be surprised if the distillation is quite similar to that of Peruvian piscos. Lingering aftertaste, a truly great raicilla. The acidity is there but rather flavoured with lemons than cheese. A short blink of a second you’d swear it is limoncello from Sorrento.

Lot 1 from March 2018. Bottle no 114, so pretty close to that of the first reviewer, and I am equally thrilled having recently had both the Puntas and the Venenosa Sierra Occidentales.

On opening the bottle it smells very typical “espadin”, reminding me about Del Maguey’s Chichicapa. A bit alcohol whiff in the glass, allspice and cloves, leather and fresh agave, cornbread. Nice robes.
Some alcohol bite at first, seemingly due to lack of proper resting, so leave a pour from a newly opened bottle for a while in the glass, and/or use a copita. More cloves, and a hint of cardamom, baked agave, corn flour is absolutely there on the finish but less than I expected. However, the aftertaste keeps lingering, so it is hard to miss.

I think the bottle needs more rest to reveal all nuances, but still very fresh, spicy and interesting for an espadin, really good, excellent aperitif.

Lot A2-10-EL-20 October 2020

Olla de barro smell, absolutely, green vegetables, leather and herbal on the nose too. Great mouthfeel. Something camphorous, rather pine resin than eucalyptus I think, but just a hint. Figues, and a floral hint too, perhaps violet, reminding me of a vanilla forward crème de violette. A real shame I could not catch the batch. Closing time at a restaurant you’d never expect to have such interesting mezcals as they actually had.

This could be the smoothest mezcal I’ve ever had. Jasmin, lilac, faint smoke and peach skins on the nose. Creamy, tropical fruit cocktail on the palate, with carambole, papaya and lychee but also floral notes, with chamomile and a vague undefinable mix of perfume and leather. Not sure what to make out of Del Maguey’s new website where it looks like this is now an ensamble of papalote and pizorra (presumably cupreata and the smaller Puebla version of marmorata).

Wow, what a burst of jalapeño and cheese — both on the nose and on the palate. Serrano-wrapped dates, pine needles without the bitterness, sourdough white bread on the finish. I seriously love this, if I catch a bottle at some point I’d love to elaborate on the tasting notes. The reflex you get is to quit whatever conversation you had, then sit down in a corner and just explore this mezcal in quiet contemplation.

LOT 45 Dec. 2020, seems an exclusive batch for La maison du whisky:
I got my bottle! It needs time to improve the smell, but flavours are just as fascinating as that unknown batch above. Jalapeños, green bell pepper, sautéed chayotes, a hint of Serrano ham, figues rather than dates. Less lactic than the previous batch, rather 3% fat yoghurt than cheese, and a bit more grassy aftertaste. More vegetal and herbal generally, but that could change over time after opening the bottle. It lacks a bit of structure and aftertaste for a full score, but what a fascinating mezcal it is. You could try to imagine an ensamble of tepeztate, arroqueno, funky raicilla and a savoury pechuga (less of that last note in batch 45).

Lovely nose, with clay and apricot at first — surprising really. A bit acetone/nail polish remover comes through though.
Quite integrated alcohol and pleasant mouthfeel. Some barnyard funk, but it is not a defining feature, rather it is toffee, apricot and pear. Ok, smoky finish, some wormwood-ish bitterness feels a bit misplaced. Still solid.

Subdued nose, I would never have come up with other reviewer’s “bacon fat” by myself, but there is something to it: It smells a bit smoke, rust and umami, so yes, smoked bacon, from a cast iron skillet. Well rounded palate, integrated alcohol, nice agave fruit and ok finish. Tics all the boxes for a properly made espadin, but not memorable.

Distinct woody karwinskii aroma, smells a bit of Brazil nuts. Fruity, nutty and woody palate. This is the first copper distilled barril I’ve tried (I think). While barril is not my favourite karwinskii, this is a very good mezcal nonetheless.

A bit rough nose, but after breathing a bit a strong aroma of apricot pits, old library shelves and slightly charred wood. Apricot and other fruits immediately in the mouth, white pepper, fresh peat smoke that for a split second could make you think it is a Glenmorangie whisky. Long, pleasant aftertaste. Quite viscous, all in all. Edit: I’ve had quite a few different batches of this through the years. After a while, the slightly sour harshness smoothes out and gives a really lovely taste of pastry cream, very pleasant, and special. It must be the most outstanding espadin ever.

Woody, peanut with the skin on, fresh agave fruitiness. I am still pondering whether I prefer Karwinskiis from clay or copper distillation. Solid and good, regardless, medium smoke.
Lot 14

Very special, very earthy and herbal, lots of pine and, as others pointed out: mold, absolutely. The palate is like starting with an Italian alpine amaro that turns out to be a smoky fruit brandy. The smell stays in the nostrils for a long time. Aromas a bit like a Corsican fleur du Maquis cheese (sheep’s milk, covered with herbs). Revisiting the same bottle five months later, the astringency has softened, and the slightly lactic fruitiness is even better. Very memorable bottle.

Dried figs, slate and dusty loft aromas with hints of lactic sourness. More dried fruit on the palate, just a hint of the quince/lime flavour I think of as the maguey tobalá signature. Heavy mineral notes, yet balanced, good viscosity. I would, somewhat illogically, rate it higher if it wasn’t a tobalá, but I found the clay pot minerality was masking the great agave specific fruitiness. Please also note that if the price point was not so high, this could be four stars.
Nov. 2019.
«Tobala 2020» batch: a lot fresher and fruitier, with Lalo’s deep, mineral/woody elegance. Since he stopped labelling as “mezcal”, the price is nearly half of what it was too (Europe import). 4.75 stars.

Smells of flint, leather and cherry pits. Herbal and mineral palate, vanilla and some fruity agave towards a bit short finish. Medium viscosity. It falls short of the other Karwinskii offerings from Lalocura, but is absolutely solid and good.
Edit: Adding half a star after noting that this is subtler than his other expressions, not the mezcal to drink too late in the evening.

Slate, brillat-savarin cheese and chile ancho aromas. Nice hit on the tongue with briney Madagascar pepper followed by an agave kick with plum and pear. Hard cheese rind and nectarine finish. Starting to think all Venenosa raicillas share a common baseline, but yet each bottle is so unique.
Lot 28.