Just a quick review that I’ll come back to later when I’ve had a chance to come back to it, but on first drink it’s my new favorite Espadín. I find a lot of Espadíns a bit sour these days compared to other magueys and avoid them, but all the time in glass worked magic on this batch. It’s warm and caramelly while still having the Espadín flavors on top of that. It’s rich and complex and I’m already sad I only have 200 ml of it. I thought this was the throwaway batch you got in order to have the Ciro and Lalos, but this is a real star in its own.

JV.03.21.JB
Wow. Just opened the bottle and the first sip was delicious. I’ve found a lot of mezcals need some time to rest and open up. They are better a month or 6 after I first open them, but this is phenomenal right away. I’m tasting it next to an In Situ Jabali that is delicious, but this is better. Way more complexity. It’s sweet in a burnt sugar kind of way with some citric saltiness at the same time. It also has a warm, homey cedar wood depth to it, that’s all really well integrated. It has a heat and spice, too, that’s just right to open up the tastebuds and it has a nice viscosity that satisfyingly coats your mouth. This is my first time having anything by Juan Vazquez, but I’m in love. It’s already my favorite Jabali I’ve tried out of 7 or 8. I just keep drinking more and more. Dangerously good. I should add that I’m generally a fan of Miahuatlan mezcals.

Lot 47, December 2019
This was a bit disappointing. A bit thin and not as much depth and complexity as I was assuming would be there. A strong taste of smoke with sweetness. I tasted this alongside the Viejo Indecente Tepeztate that blew this out of the water. It was very drinkable, though.

Didn’t see a lot number, but it was certified in 2019.
This was delicious. Almost no smoke. Very fruity and floral. Nice viscosity. Complex flavors. Would happily drink it anytime.

I got a batch of Paula’s Bicuixe released by Corazón de Diabla that is at 50% ABV and it’s fucking delicious. All the flavors others listed are there. Just wanted to put it out there for people interested in this that there’s a higher proof of this out there under a different label.

PV00-11042017
Light and sweet and incredibly drinkable. I had to check that it was over 45% ABV and not 40 or below. It’s so light that I find myself taking another sip right away to chase the flavor again. It’s so delicate, yet lingers with a satisfying warmth filling my mouth. Nothing unpleasant throughout. It seems to alternate between the sweet/floral/honeyed and the earthy/rich, both there at once. That’s where the complexity lies, in the balance between those two sides. I repeat that it’s dangerously drinkable. Most mezcals I like to savor in small amounts, but this one I keep drinking and pouring.

Love this. Sweet and green is one of my favorite qualities in a mezcal and this has it in spades. There is a honeyed/candied smell along with fresh green pepper that you get first, then the exact same flavor hits your tongue when you first taste it, just with a bit less sweetness and a more complex depth. Like the smell of a garden vs the earthy taste of the vegetables that come from it. There is a pleasant peppery spice that comes on the second half of the experience, and the sweetness, earthy green bell peppers, and pepper spice all sit on the tongue all the way through a nice long finish. Interestingly, though most Mexicanos are A. Rhodacantha, this is A. Americana, so be aware it may be a bit different from other Mexicanos.

48.1 ABV, MDX-17, Juan Ramirez
It came out a bit hot when I first opened the bottle, but eventually settled into something totally unique and utterly delightful. It is the lightest, sweetest, greenest mezcal I’ve had. Most madrecuixes I’ve had have a mineral dryness, but this is just light and sweet and open, while still being full of flavor. The overwhelming flavor is green vegetables, mostly sweet green pepper, but the impression is a cool mountain stream on a sunny day. I just finished my bottle and lament its absence as nothing else on my shelf tastes like it. I had no idea it would open up into this when I first opened the bottle.
You can visit the Diestro/Siniestro offices in Mexico City to do a tasting and buy bottles.

Lot 5, June 2018. Agree with others about this being complex. It has a nice balance of vegetal sweetness, heat, and a cheese/funk underneath. The three notes carry through together for a nice, long finish, with no one sense overriding the others. It’s really amazing how it manages to be light/green/sweet and deep/funky equally at the same time. The one thing about it is that if I’m sipping very slowly and it sits in the glass for awhile, it loses a little complexity and thins out with a bit more acidity and sharpness.

This was my first bottle from Rezpiral and it’s something of a letdown. It’s a bit thin. No big flavors. It has the earthy sweetness of a tobala, but it’s doesn’t have much other complexity and the earthiness errs on the heavy/bitter side. I tried the drop of water two others recommended, and it does bring a bit more fruity sweetness out, but that just thins it out further, making it even less compelling. It’s fine, but nothing special. I periodically go back to the bottle hoping it’s changed and opened up into something more interesting, but it hasn’t, yet.

Complex and flavorful. Smells like honeyed green vegetables (green bell and cucumber, maybe), and tastes similarly with a roasted/fermented funk running underneath it. The sweet greenness of the salmiana and the honey funk pulque are both present and they blend beautifully. It has a long finish. I also have a very good bottle of an Alto with pulque from Mezcaloteca, but this is a cut above. It’s everything I’d hoped for out of the first US release from Almamezcalera. Also worth noting that pulque is said to have some psychotropic effects and this mezcal pleasantly warms the brain in a way that’s different than other mezcals.

Lote RML-05, 2016.
I don’t know if I caught a weird bottle of this, but this comes off as a pretty average (average for its range) mezcal to me. It’s fine. It tastes a little bit of peanut and a touch of sweetness, which is nice, but there are strong undertones of clay and it ends with a lot of the earthy clay, so I don’t get as much complexity or as long of a finish as I do from a lot of other mezcals I rate higher. It’s drinkable, and it’s fine, but I don’t get all of the fuss over it. I liked Real Minero’s Barril a lot more.

49.3 ABV, Lote 19-D
This is a bottle I recently finished and one I miss having on the shelf. There is a warm, earthy sweetness to it, with some fruit underneath, that made it a mezcal I’d reach for regularly. I’ve found Pierde Almas to sometimes run hot, but this one rides the line well. Very enjoyable and drinkable. One of the mezcals I would recommend to people branching out of the $50 and below espadins who want to see what the fuss is about in the more expensive different varieties of agaves.

Lote 01, 2018. This is every bit as good as everyone else says. Maybe the best alcohol I’ve ever had, right up there with those from Almamezcalera. It’s incredibly complex with a series of contrasting flavors hitting one after the other in a perfectly harmonious way. It packs huge flavor with almost no burn. Dangerously drinkable. The mouthfeel is creamy and it’s light and sweet and funky, fruity and cheesy, with some clay notes all at once. Worth the money.

Batch EN6M-19
Agree that it tastes green and vegetal, and there’s sweetness up front, but there’s a heaviness underneath the sweet, vegetal flavors. There’s a touch of clay/minerality on the finish that feels true to the experience of drinking a field, but means I don’t experience the same lightness as some of the other reviewers. It comes off as a bit muddled overall, and is a perfectly enjoyable mezcal, but not special. Like Rakhal, I fell for the story, and if I could go back, I probably would have chosen a different bottle from 5 Sentidos.

51 ABV, 2014, Lote 06-PC Edicion Especial
This came to me as a very kind gift from a friend who visited the palenque and I unfortunately find it nigh undrinkable. Johnny’s comment about black licorice is spot on and I’ve never had a taste for the flavor. It tastes like they dropped black licorice in the bottle, almost like an infusion, and the taste is so overwhelming it’s hard to taste anything else. It is truly unique as I’ve never had another mezcal like it, but I’ve never had another high quality mezcal with a flavor I disliked as much as this. It was hot when I first opened it, but it’s since smoothed out into an easy sipping licorice bomb. 3 stars due to it’s evident quality as a spirit even though it’s essentially a 1 star for my palate.