Lote 27, 11/19, Artesanal, 44.4%

Nose: green, raw green pepper, padron peppers, jalapenos, big bunches of spearmint and peppermint. Mild sweetness, drop of lemon juice and white pepper, a little barn/manure funk? This is really aromatic, not massively complex but very nice.

Palate: nice arrival, lovely perceptual sweetness, candied padron peppers, gently smoky, earthy. Very good full coating texture. A little cream cheese, more of that mint, remains pleasantly sweet, savoury, earthy, with a slight citric and mineral grip, going on quite long. Can take a drop of water but pretty much perfect at strength.

Comment: price on this is creeping up but at €38 this was a steal and it remains very good at a slightly higher price. Not super complex but a lot of character and very drinkable! Another winner from Derrumbes.

From a sample, no batch number.

Nose: whiff of frangipane, vanilla ice cream, cucumber dropped in dirt, pickle juice, grapefruit. Later watermelon, canteloupe and drumstick lollies. Nice nose.

Palate: a little hot at strength and a touch muddled. Very mineral start, chalky, develops on a little citrus, limestone, dusty. Water helps a bit, remains mineral driven and somewhat simple, some flashes of blood orange and grapefruit on the midpalate but remains in the background. Medium finish, on slates.

Comment: well made, a nice nose and nice minerality but found this rather too simple and linear on the palate.

EU version. Celso Garcia Cruz, (2018 vintage, 2020 release), Oaxaca, 49.3%, 200 bottles, £115

Nose: many floral and fruity touches. Slightly creamy, very fine, refined smoke, like a few ashes from a burnt lime. Candy necklace, licorice comfits, old electronics. Refreshers bars, syrupy yet sour, effervescent, lemony and tropical. Green tea, juniper, orange yoghurt, lemon verbena, nettles, pine needles, cucumber slices. Sweetens with a touch of water, more floral, roses, honeysuckle.

Palate: slightly sharp at full strength, lemon verbena, juniper, nettles, pine, scratch n sniff, grapefruit, green tea. With water, creamier, some iodine-y hospital notes, hessian, slight grapefruit mercaptan. Again goes on rather long.

Comment: really complex and delicious. In my side by side, I think I prefer the nose here, but the palate on the Candido Tequilana.

EU version. Candido Garcia Cruz, (2015 vintage, 2020 release), Oaxaca, 49.9%, 285 bottles, £115

Nose: ooh, weird but nice. carrots and balasmic vinegar, durian flesh, leather, roasted red peppers, orange syrup, then grape candy, grape pips. Something in here reminds me of Hampden Rum Fire, stinky high estery, ethereal fruits. Rubber? With water, fermented raspberries and liquorice join in. This is rather complex and very nice to nose.

Palate: lively, juicy, effervescent arrival. Relatively high toned at first, slightly saline, citric, teases a linear fruitiness but then becomes extremely mineral driven, lime juice, rock dust, clay. Love the acidity here, and the mouthfeel is great. Some vegetal touches, a little white pepper. Old book shop, touches of smoked grapefruit, going on rather long.

Comment: I love this, so well made and so tasty. The price is high, but the quality is there, just great stuff.