BCX02-19
Green, earthy, vegetal! Reminds me of other Miahuatlan mezcals, which I tend to be biased to. Piney taste, some chalky, sweet & fruity. Balanced with the overall greenish flavor notes. Very solid and wish I had more of this 2oz sample. 4.25
Review #97

S-01-E-20
Slight tinge in color. Subdued smell, but obviously clay. Sweet smells of espadin as well. Notes of chalkiness and some tropical fruit. Bit hot at the end, but still very well balanced with the clay distillation. 2oz sample.
Review #96

Wow! So drinkable at 57%. I get the fig newtons others have mentioned. Smell is a bit unassuming, and then the taste hits you – strong of course, yet soft with sweet, sugary, and dried dark fruit notes. More like a 4.25.

Great smell! Floral and scents of vanilla. Taste is soft & delicate – more vanilla, flowers, green notes (slight jalapeño in there), and some hotness at the end that didn’t seem to go away as the bottle got some airtime. I don’t get much of the tepextate notes that I love, but the softness and quality of this one is still great with this three agave ensamble. 4.25 stars.

Dominate clay smell & taste throughout. Interesting, but nothing overly complex. Tropical fruit, woody, vanilla. Not bad at all, but not blowing me away either.

Lote: 0419ER
Love the green, earthy smell I’ve come to recognize and love from the Ramos’. Get the key lime that others have mentioned. Mellower beginning – sweet, tropical fruits. The cuixes seems to dominate, and wish I could find more of the tepeztate. Red hot candy finish and probably a bit too hot. 4.25
Review #92

DS002-4M
The finish is the best part on this one – comes out of nowhere! Initially get some cream, grass, orange, vanilla almonds, and then bam – pink bubblegum at the finish. Complex and very interesting! Bit hot though as others have pointed out. 2oz sample. 4.25 stars.
Review #91

Series 4
Light, green smell. Different series, but still get the new tennis ball scent others have mentioned. Coconut comes in and out on both smell & taste. Some rubber, but a good balance of bright sweetness & smoke. Well rounded tobasiche, but the ‘synthetic smell’ brings it down for me.
Review #90

Strong, sweet smell…rotten fruit funk is pronounced. Clay is well balanced though on the taste with tropical fruit, and some tartness. Slight pepper on finish. One of my first raicillas, and can’t say I totally love it. Will keep trying though! Awesome to get these in 200ML bottles though as a way to sample. 3.25
Lote: A20, Date 01-20
Review #89

Buttery & floral on the nose and throughout the taste. Sweet, citirusy (lemon), and overall very pleasant. ABV is a bit lower for my personal preference. All around though a very good espadin!

My favorite of all 4x Historico Gustos samples I’ve tried. Smell is green, sweet, and inviting. Tepeztate forward, which I’m definitely biased to. Love the green and earthiness, along with some cream notes from the cuishe. Candy sweetness is in there too. Tastes a bit stronger than the 47% ABV, but in a great way. I’m buying a full bottle of this one!
2 oz sample

Creamsicle! Not getting normal sotol notes of grass/earthy either. Very clean finish, with some earthy, cotton notes, but not overall complex. Smooth and balanced finish. One of the better of the Gusto Historicos.
2 oz sample

Very fragrant. Airy, grassy, and earthy. Can’t figure out which agave dominates on this one, but they are all working in harmony together. Unfortunately, this one also seems to be a bit too hot. Overall very good ensamble.
2oz sample

Very fragrant. Karwinskiis seems to dominate this ensamble, as I don’t get any of the tepeztate notes I’m used to (50% madrecuixe, 20% bicuixe, 30% Tep.) Overall not bad at all – some pink bubblegum sweetness with a cream finish (candycorn?). Bit too hot though to get a higher ranking. 3.75.
2oz sample

Lote: ACRO16, Bottle 179, May 2018.
Solid clay espadin! In fact one of my favorite espadins to date…probably couldn’t have guessed the agave type in a blind tasting. It’s very sweet, flowery, and well rounded. Full mouth feel and viscous. Honey and orange cream. Smoke and clay are in check, and work together beautifully. Very excited to try more from Cuentacuentos. Also, seems like all reviews here are tasting the same batch, which is cool and shows it’s well liked.
Review #2: ACR033 – Equally good, and I guessed this one blind based on the smell alone (tangy, sweet apples). Taste is still very tangy, sweet, with light smoke. Balanced & a delicious espadin. This LOTE is more of a 4.25.
Review #83/#149

People seem to love this one, but it’s not for me.
Leather and clay funk dominate the smell, and carries over to the taste. There’s some burnt rubber in there, with some pleasant sweetness, (but not enough), BBQ, saltiness. Overall I feel like the clay distillation on this one is not balanced out as well as it could be (but I seem to be in a minority here, so hey…).
Update: it has gotten better with some oxygen as I’ve had the bottle open longer, so I would bump this up more to a 3.5.

Wow…this one has it all. Great, and classic tepextate notes that I love – fresh jalapeño, fresh green pepper. Some good smoked green veggies (asparagus). Spicy. A bit sharp at the end, but overall very solid mezcal and tep….I’m buying a 375ml now.
REI-TEP-001, 50ml from Melate.

Sweet, vanilla nose. Good clay balance. Vanilla wafers, some citrus fruit, candiness… all overlaid with the classic clay taste and mouth-feel. Quite good!

Exquisite smell – floral & flowery. Taste brings rating down a bit for me, but still very enjoyable. Well rounded with the approachable cuishe sweetness. It’s hard for me not to like most mezcals from Miahuatlan either.
200ml from agave mixtape.

200ml from Agave Mixtape.
Unique and appealing smell. Melon, cream, vanilla. Some lemon. Taste to me is tad astringent, fabric softer. Overall tasted seemed to go down the longer I had it open. First Alto agave.
2023 – 12211RM. Tried different batch. Very similar notes to older batch. Dryer sheets. Apple bitter sweetness. I’d probably keep rating the same.
Review #78