JAEN1122. This is my favorite of the four Creador expressions that I have tried. It’s very similar to the Lumbre but the Espadin really completes it. So complex! This is one to sip on and contemplate. It’s got all these great leathery and musty and aromatic flavors but at the very end there’s this beautiful deep sweetness, probably from the Espadin. A beautiful work of art.

JAME1122. Sweet, tropical, and spicy! Vanilla cupcakes, red hots, pineapple, lychee, mango, and carob. Delicious!

JALU1122. This is a cool one. The main flavor I get right off the bat is anise seed, but it’s a complex anise flavor. Like black licorice and fennel seeds and Sambuca all at once. There’s something musty and leathery like an abandoned house full of old leather furniture. Also some rolling tobacco and some sort of concentrated fruit sweetness like charred pineapple syrup. This is killer.

JAEC1122. I liked this one immediately. I was expecting more concentrated sweet and caramelized flavors because of the Capón process, but instead I was surprised with a smoky, earthy, vegetal, woody, and nutty flavor profile. Redwood bark, wet clay, roasted asparagus, campfire, and roasted peanut shells. Interesting, complex, and tasty.

Whoa!! So much tropical fruit!! Juicy Fruit Gum in liquid form. I love Raicilla from Jalisco, this one is a little bit intense on the artificial fruit flavor notes though. I totally dig it, but in small doses. If I were a cocktail maker I would think this one would be good with a little pineapple juice, some soda water, and a squeeze of lime.

Yet another amazing Cupreata from Guerrero! Is there anyone in that state that doesn’t make incredible Mezcal?!?! This is clean and citrusy and piney. Some Orange Creamsicle, cream soda, caramel, Spearmint Altoids, guava, crushed pine needles. Not a single flaw. So delicious.

A Tuxca from Jalisco!!! I was excited to try this, and it’s very tasty. I wish I could say I got the earthy and meaty flavors from the other reviewer’s because I love those flavors, but instead I’m getting a lot of incense flavors. Especially on the finish, it’s like Nag Champa incense on the exhale. Also brown sugar and baking spices, and something that reminds me of canned fruit cocktail. It’s like walking into one of those New Age hippie shops after they had just finished baking an apple pie. Trippy, and I dig it.

Lot: 001-TEP. This is my second expression from Arturo Conde. The Masparillo has become one of my favorites. This Tepemete is very sweet. Not cloying, it’s a deep complex sweetness that I keep coming back for. Cake frosting, date syrup, banana bread, No2 pencil, black licorice, and grape soda. I’m glad I bought a bottle of this.

I like this a lot. It’s really well integrated with a woody, earthy, floral, and slightly smoky flavor profile. No obvious flavor notes jump out at me, it’s more a feeling that I get when I sip this. Old leather, a woodpile out in the rain, a desert campfire still smoldering in the morning, desert flowers blooming at night. This one speaks to me, I want to meet this guy.

This one is really soft and delicate and subtle. I would’ve liked to have tried this one before it aged in glass for seven years. It might be a little too soft for me, I do like it though. To me it tastes like apples and flowers with a peppery salty finish. Vanilla Bean, Fuji apple, apple jolly ranchers, jasmine flower, dryer sheets, tarragon, white pepper, and table salt. Tasty.

When I first opened my bottle of this, it was super lactic! Like Roquefort cheese, which I happen to love. I also got some intense over-ripe fruit flavors like a giant pile of tropical fruits rotting in the sun. After being opened for a few hours the lactic flavors almost completely went away, and the fruits really smoothed out a lot. Now I’m getting some really strong new tire rubber and freshly opened can of tennis balls flavors. I’m also getting flavors that remind me of key limes, juicy fruit gum, and white TicTac’s. A bit of a cake frosting finish with just a touch of that Roquefort cheese. I have a feeling this is one of those Mezcals that’s going to keep changing, if I don’t finish the bottle first.

I’m pretty sure this is only the second Sierra del Tigre Raicilla I have ever had, the other being the legendary La Venenosa. I was expecting intense, lactic, and strange flavors, but what I got was something so clean and so pure that it blew my mind! I read an article about how primitive his still is, the article said that if there was any distillation before the Spanish came, this is how it would have been done. Check out the article on Mezcalistas, it’s very interesting. This guy has incredible skills, it’s so clean and beautiful, and even at a low ABV after one distillation it’s got a ton of flavor! The flavor is pure Agave. It’s like I’m tasting the essence of the agave and nothing else it’s just so clean! I love this!

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This has such a beautiful, soft mouth feel! The flavors are so well integrated! It almost tastes like it’s been rested in glass for a long time. Every Mezcal I’ve ever had from Benigno has the same qualities. The flavors to me are like dried thyme, barbecued pineapple, and warm baking spices like allspice and cloves and cinnamon. This is fantastic! Everything this guy distills is beautiful.

Wow. If I tasted this blind, I would probably think it was a Lechuguilla from Chihuahua. So interesting and complex! When I first opened it, I got some chemical flavors, but they went away after it aired out a bit. Chocolate malt balls, Nag Champa incense, Yoohoo, cinnamon, sweaty horse, and a flavor that tastes like a flannel shirt smells. I won’t be surprised if some people don’t like this one, but I really dig it.

I love this one. Floral and fruity and delicious. This is like a warm sunny spring day by the water with my friends. A big thick caramel swirl in vanilla ice cream, jasmine flowers, ripe pears, and fresh spearmint. So good.

While Ensamble #1 was sweet, Ensamble #2 is earthy. It starts out sour like lemon juice, but quickly morphs into some really cool earthy flavors like decaying leaves, fresh forest soil, dried porcini mushrooms, and ancho chilies. Then as I swallow and let my breathe out of my nose I get a big hit of allspice and cinnamon. Oh yeah, I like this one.

I love Raicilla so much. This has a classic Raicilla flavor, but it’s a little bit more concentrated and sweet. It’s complex and decadent. Brown sugar, maple sugar candy, celery bitters, and Spearmint Altoids. There’s something dusty and sweet on the finish that I like a lot.

This one has gotten better and better since I opened it. It was the surprise winner of a big blind Cenizo tasting that I did at my house. Luxardo brandied cherries, thyme, animal crackers, candied orange peel, amaro, and a dusty old cedar chest. Tasty!

WOW!!!!!! I’m completely blown away by this!!! I’ve had a lot of Salmianas in my day, and I never thought I would get a better one than the San Luis Potosí from Almamezcalera but this is better. By far the best Mezcal I’ve had from Guanajuato and the best Mezcal from Agave Salmiana that I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, when you buy Salmiana Mezcals locally they’re normally a very low proof which really hurts the flavor in my opinion. At 60% this absolutely punches you in the face with flavor!! It’s like Salmiana turned up to 11!!! Huge notes of fresh peppermint. Also an herbal sweetness that reminds me of the candy coated fennel seeds you get from Indian restaurants. It’s SPICY!! Jalapeños, bell peppers, and Apple jolly Ranchers. I want 100 liters of this!!!

Lot 3. This is beautiful. The Palmilla’s I’ve had from Sonora have all been great, and this is no exception. Soft and delicate. Earthy and fruity and herbal. This reminds me of lying on granite rocks by a cool stream in an oasis in the Sonoran desert eating a mango. There’s also something like smoked meat that I really dig. For me this Palmilla is more of a feeling than any particular flavor notes. I’m a fan.