ABV 48.5%

Nose: milk duds, wet clay, figs, tootsie roll, raisins, milk chocolate

Palate: less sweet than I expected on the palate. Earthy and mineral. Dried pineapple, some peanuts, mulch. Finish is cumin, chile cover mangos, a bit of cocoa and coffee

The nose made me expect a sweetness overload on the palate but damn did the palate hold its own. Nice chocolate and earth balanced. I’ve only had a few sotols and this is the best I’ve had by far. Awesome stuff.

ABV: 46%

Nose: tart lemon, herbs, mustard seed, lemongrass, plenty of citrus

Palate: wow, candy like. Werthers quickly becomes Sweetarts, chalky banana, persimmons, then it gets a bit more tart with passionfruit, slate, bitter herbs. Finish is the style I love, bitter minerality, ground stone, charred rosemary, and after a while it’s like that bitter sweet aftertaste

Nose is subtle leading into a BIG layered palate. Terrific stuff

45% ABV

Nose: soft creamy, floral vanilla, some ash and burnt pepper

Palate: soft mouth feel, a bit of vanilla with sweet ash, overripe mango and some pineapple, the tail end is a bit vegetal and peppery with a bit of kick to it.

Solid and as expected. A bit hot on the backend but nice up front. A good value and seems like a great entry point for someone.

ABV 48.3% OTT Batch

Nose: Classic nose I get with Marmorata. Popsicle stick, honey covered jalapeños, it’s layered and pungent, there’s some soft earth underneath all of it.

Palate: more honey Jalapeno, spiced mango, burnt peach, pepper skins, a little woody and cacao. Moving to the finish is fig jam, soil. Finish is chile covered grapefruit, passionfruit, spicy Paloma just sitting on your tongue on the finish. The clay makes this on the finish giving the flavors depth.

This is excellent. Sometimes the clay is just there on something, like in the background but I feel the clay on this one gives everything so much depth. What a freaking pour

Batch 1221 IRM ABV 46

Nose: watermelon juice, limes, underlying leather like hot car seats, but so much watermelon

Palate: watermelon on the front, limes, lemon sour patch kid, I always think of lemonade moving into the finish with this. Finish is lemon lime, slightly herbal and leathery to dry, the herbal to me is lemongrass and sage.

This isn’t crazy complex but that’s what makes it so damn crushable. I always forget how much melon I get on this…then I pour it. This Alto to me is a cabinet staple.

ABV 46.5%

Nose: Guava cream cheese, up close it’s more ash and pencil eraser but as you move your nose further away it’s dried fruit like pineapple, mango, slightly lactic and cheesy. Some lime as it sits. I’m intrigued by the nose

Palate: oh wow, this is cool. Nose translates well to the palate, cheesy fruit, oranges and guava, but briefly then its cherry licorice. Some lemon, slight leathery moving into the finish it drys quickly with some stone and minerality. I really enjoy the finish. Some ash, charred fruits, slate. Just sits nicely for a while.

Agree with Imperium this is some high quality agave juice! It’s fruity but not assaultingly so and damn do I love fruit and minerality combined, this does it so damn well

Batch: 012MBMUSA-22 ABV: 47.9%

Nose: chalky pine, spearmint, dry soil, sawdust, definitely some parmesan

Palate & Finish: Herbal up front, peppermint, tangy lime, pine resin, chalk candy is very present especially moving into the finish like runts. Finish is herbs, star anise, cola (good call jam) mango and your mouth is almost left feeling chalky.

I have a full bottle of this and I think if I had reviewed on a sample I wouldn’t have enjoyed as much. This has definitely opened up as the bottle gets some air time and I love it. Initially it felt a little compact. It’s definitely Bicuixe dominant.

Nose: creamy mango, coconut, strawberry, slight herbal like lavender

Palate & Finish: More herbal and than the nose lets on. Needed to let it sit for a minute but I got the creamy coconut, then spa herbs like sage, lemongrass, light pear, some honeydew. Finish you get hit with the clay, it’s wet and cherry like, mud, but trails off into some nice medicinal mint and cough syrup

Solid as Lalo always is. The clay adds some soft mouthfeel and it’s a really nice balance of herbal and fruit which I get on some Espadins.

Nose: melon rind specifically cantaloupe, lemongrass, pretty vegetal, watermelon, lime, as it opens up more I get some apple, it’s very clean and streamlined on the nose if that makes sense

Palate: a blast of fruit on the front, red apple, juicy plum, frosting elements and then white pepper, graphite, soil as it moves to the finish. Finish is kind of nice slightly peppery, spearmint, this element of grapefruit like you took a bite, rind and all. As I adjust to the ABV I actually get a blast of honeydew melon on the finish as well

Whoa, did not realize the ABV before pouring this. Definitely needed some air but still drank lower than I thought. Overall really nice and my rating ticked upward as I sat with it. I enjoy Puntas generally but believe there is a reason most agave is released in the 45 to low 50s. I bet this would be an excellent ensamble in non Puntas form. I get the Espadin and plenty of Cupreata, there is just a ton to unpack.

Lot J-02-E-22 ABV: 50.5%

Nose: fruit on the nose, peaches, melon, sage, lemongrass, pear

Palate: soft mouthfeel, plums, mamey fruit, honeydew, moving toward the finish I get some minerality and light clove spice. Finish is citrus rind, white pepper, slate

Consistent, available, and well priced I always appreciate Vago. I prefer this over the other Vago Espadins I’ve tried. Not all that complex but well rounded and solid.

Batch: ESPCAN1627 ABV: 47.3%

Nose: candied pineapple, cake frosting, sweet vegetal notes, honeysuckle

Palate: conversation hearts candy from Valentine’s Day, some mint, banana, sweet pineapple juice. Finish is slightly tangy and leathery. Hint of mint.

Lovely Espadin and one of my favorite bottles to show friends newer to agave spirits

ABV: 47%

Nose: green curry, celery, spiced edamame, green wood

Palate: soft mouth feel, more curry, some earth, turmeric, ginger, savory minerals, slightly shrimpy. Finish is a blast of cocoa bitterness, Tobacco, burnt lemons, coffee

I can see how some would like this but not really my thing. Nothing wrong with it though, overall seems like some well produced agave

Batch DRML-14 Harvest 2019 ABV: 49.06%

Nose: earthy, dark cherry, sawdust, peanut butter

Palate: I really like this, honey grilled peppers, bright cinnamon, a bit of cherry limeade infused with mint and cilantro, lavender. Finish is bitter minerality, cocoa nibs, leather, tart kiwi

Solid from Real Minero and a fun clay karwinskii. Funny the earthy nose didn’t translate to the palate as much for me.

This is the 3rd edition. ABV 45.1%

Nose: spiced cheese, clove, cumin, rosemary, little woody, not as lactic as I expected

Palate: chili covered limes, cream cheese, more Raicilla like on the palate, subtle baking spices, green apple. Finish is leathery, tobacco, more citrus, slightly mustardy

Enjoyable. This version definitely seems a bit more agreeable and less smoke dominant than the other reviews. Good Raicilla

Batch: RMC-01 ABV: 52.6

Nose: earthy, fig, clay, crayons, mulch, chocolate and cocoa nibs

Palate and Finish: chocolate covered raisins, more fig, a bit of coffee, dried cherries, red wine and dirt. Finish is chocolate, hot peppers, honey

I really enjoy clay distillation particularly with Americana and Rhodacantha. This is solid all around. Not exceptional but excellent representation of the agave

Batch 202110, 50.7% abv

Nose: lightly cheesy, some hay, wheat, Alphonso mangoes, lime

Palate: kinda herbal up front moving into a very soft mouthfeel, cigarette candy, chalky mango, maybe some fig, as it moves to more earthy. Finish starts out with mulch, some cocoa, and a nice leathery take out

This is more straight forward and approachable than other Cenizos I’ve had. Nice fruit, earth, and mouthfeel. Rayo Seco puts out some great stuff at great prices. Worth having on the shelf

Nose: earthy, some wood, mulch, citrus rind, papaya, honeydew, as it sits I get a bit more lime

Palate: sage, mint, tobacco, then is awesome flash of fruit, more papaya, sweet rotting mango, pineapple. Finish is soil, white pepper, tart leather, a bit of vegetal bitterness

The nose didn’t really excite me on this but the palate is great. The coyote really comes out moving into the finish with a flash of dank fruits. Good stuff, far exceeded my expectations

Nose: malt chocolate, tootsie rolls, as it sits it sours quickly, like chocolate milk gone bad, sour root beer?

Palate: more tootsie roll, bbq beef, vinegar bbq sauce, leathery cider, molasses. Finish is tart and sour. Old caramel but not in a great way. Root beer.

This is just odd. I actually enjoyed it the first pour but not so much on subsequent pours. I think it’s the tart and sour profile that goes along with the chocolate and caramel tootsie roll. It’s not that it’s terrible just not something I go reach for. I’m always interested in different styles from different places and that at least makes it interesting.

Agave Mixtape batch

Nose: crisp veggies, woody and pine, lime, fruits start to open up as it sits and become more orange forward, melon rind, lemongrass, I get the green apple Goldie mentioned

Palate: this is where it shines. Fruit forward, orange juice, tart apple, watermelon rind, honeydew, coconut. Finish is eucalyptus, pine, citrus rind. Charred peppers, honey

I side by sided this with the regular batch of MB Sierra I had (from Emmanuel). The thing that stuck out was the fruit on the palate. Where the nonpuntas batch had more minerality this puntas is full of fruit forward notes.

Edit: as I sip (post review) I definitely am getting the Apples cereal like Apple Jacks. Fun stuff

This is a review for a batch picked and sold by the Georgetown Wines in NY.

Nose: herbal sage and mint, subtle melon, light mesquite, pineapple juice

Palate: so much fruit and melon. Like biting into a honeydew, so much more fruit though too. Ripe mangoes and perfect papaya. The backend has some minerality I absolutely love too. Slate and green veggies. Finish is balanced minerals, some pepper (not hot) and a bit of citrus bitterness.

This stuff is terrific. All the fruit and minerals I love in Papalote in such a crushable format too