Tasty. Like the Mezcal version of a flan. Roasted agave, caramel, buttered popcorn, vanilla custard, wet forest earth, saw dust, and soy sauce. Yum.
Clay mustiness, Demerara sugar, cedar planks, white pepper, quinine, gentian root, strawberry soda, cinnamon, tobacco, allspice. I like it.
Chocolate milk, chanel #5, nail polish remover, cinnamon, redwood bark, juicy fruit gum. A bit too chemical tasting.
Very citrusy. Tangerine, sunny delight, tang, orange creamsicle, fabric softener, candy coated fennel seed, guava. A bit medicinal.
Brown sugar, wet cardboard, pineapple upside down cake, canned pears in syrup, cinnamon. Sweet in a good way.
Big vanilla bean flavor! Also cinnamon, nag champa incense, banana, mixed flowers. Very nice.
Lot: MADRLA02-19. One of my favorite Mezcaleros and brands but for some reason I got a really long lingering bitter aftertaste from this one. Like grape seed extract, bitter black tea, and orange pith. Until the finish I loved it though, black pepper, indica, new sneakers, nutmeg, spearmint, sandalwood, cinnamon, jasmine, vanilla milkshake. Not sure why I got that aftertaste, I tried it on three different occasions in three different glasses.
Lot: VER-S 25-06-2019. Charred jalapeño, menthol, spearmint, wet ashes, orange zest, pineapple. Really nice Salmiana.
Lot: ENS-C 5-05-2019. Totally unique. For me this Mezcal tastes like freshly made Thai red curry paste, even with notes of shrimp paste. Savory, earthy, and spicy. I’m also getting flavors and smells that remind me of ancient teak wood temples, and old leather. This might not be for everybody but I absolutely love it!!
I tried this as part of a tasting so didn’t get the lot number. Emmanuel Ramos always makes great Mezcal but this is especially great! Vanilla wafers, pineapple, jasmine, brown sugar. Perfection.
Did this as part of a tasting and I didn’t get the lot number. Tastes like gin. No agave flavor. It’s nice though for an agave gin. Juniper and cardamom are strong, I also got some black licorice. Probably good in a Negroni.
Didn’t get the lot number. Vanilla, rosewater, bamboo, crushed granite, pound cake. Nice and soft and easy.
For me this is a perfect Tepextate. I tried it next to my El Jolgorio Tepextate which I love and Hermogenes was better. All the usual flavors I get from a Tepextate, fresh jalapeño, bell pepper, spearmint, but also something deep and savory and wonderful. An easy 5/5 for me. Hermogenes Palenque is my first stop next time I’m in Oaxaca.
MTXC03-01. This tastes completely different than the Pizorra I had in Oaxaca from the same Mezcalero. If I had blind tasted this I would have thought it was a Raicilla or even a funkier Rhum Agricole. It’s lactic and grassy and fruity. Juicy fruit gum, lime, candy corns, green tea, white tic tacs, fresh sugar cane, spoiled milk, pineapple, and cinnamon. Really unique and interesting.
MTXC06-01. WHOA!!! This is wild!! Right off the bat I got something funky and animal-y, like a sweaty horse, then it’s just deep and earthy like digging in the forest through wet leaves down to the black soil. Like decaying ancient trees covered in mushrooms. Dried porcini mushrooms, other mushrooms, dark black soil, wet leaves, tobacco leaf, and cinnamon. I love this SO MUCH!!!
Apparently there is more than one lot 1. This is Lot 1 March 2019, Lupe Lopez. Agave Angustifolia Haw 33.4%, Agave Shrevei 33.3%, Dasylirion Wheeleri 33.3%. This is probably the best Sotol I’ve ever had. Well, I guess maybe it’s not a Sotol because it also has two Agaves in it? Elegant and balanced and complex. A soft creamy mouthfeel and notes of fresh pine needles, spearmint, allspice, cedar, anise, and a strongly floral element which reminded me of potpourri. Not at all funky or lactic. Really good.
Update:
Lot 1 Bienvenido Fernandez June 2018 49% Churique 51% Dasylirion Wheeleri
Mindblowing!!!! Lemon Verbena, lemon zest, rosemary, wet grass. This is absolutely incredible!!
Batch: VGMX01. Don Valente is one of my all time favorite Mezcaleros. Almost all of his Mezcals have this flavor profile that reminds me of pound cake, maybe it’s his well water. Anyways, Jonny nailed it with the “fabric softener” note. This is very floral but in a fabric softener sort of way. I hate fabric softener, one of the first phrases I learned in Spanish was “sin suavitel”. However, I love this Mezcal. Pound cake, fabric softener, cracked black pepper, vanilla ice cream, rock salt, Nag Champa incense, and cinnamon.
Lot 1. There is a LOT going on here! This Raicilla is somehow smoky, sweet, herbal, earthy, mineral, vegetal, funky, and savory all at once. I love it!! I’m becoming a big fan of Raicillas and this is one of my favorites. My tasting notes were BBQ Sauce, olive brine, cinnamon, guacamole, celery, cilantro, old leather, drying tobacco leaf, breadfruit, and wet dog. The fact that it’s distilled in a hollowed out trunk of the sacred tree that migrating monarch butterflies choose to congregate on is very cool and adds some magic to the story as well.
Edition 12, 2018. Gregorio Mtz Jarquin.
I have tried many batches of El Jolgorio Pechuga over the years, all different, some I like more than others. This doesn’t taste like a Pechuga at all. It just tastes like a decent Espadin. I’m very disappointed with this batch. Candied orange, vanilla ice cream, metallic copper pot, caramel, rose, milk chocolate, wet dog funk. This reminds me of Legendario Domingo Espadin, except this is not as good and five times the price. I took off a star because of the price and lack of Pechuga flavors.
Batch 14ACDIG0118. 50ml sample from Maguey Melate. I bought a bottle of this from the first batch to come to the USA and this batch is quite a bit different, in a good way! Initial rye whiskey sweetness and full mouthfeel, then strong anise flavor, then into rye whiskey spice, leather, sandlewood, oak barrel, burnt vanilla, and brandied cherry. I am definitely buying a bottle of this!
