Lot MR-043 Very vegetal, like boiled asparagus. Some caramel, and a nice spicy cayenne pepper finish. A bit of rubbing alcohol on the nose but a very soft pleasant mouthfeel. It was very cheap, I thought it was worth the price.

TB03-18. The last Mezcal we tasted at the end of a long incredible tasting, and what a finale! It reminded us both of Thanksgiving dinner, so savory! Roasted agave, buttered yams, gravy, vanilla, cinnamon, and green olives. This one is special.

Lot DS005-T. It’s been a couple of years since I last had this Mezcal. I revisited it last night and I loved it. Not super complex, just textbook Tepextate. All the flavors that I love most from this agave. Bright and fresh and clean, with fresh jalapeño, lemon curd, and plumeria flower. Puts a smile on my face.

Lot DS01S-E. May 2017. 53.9%. Ramiro Sánchez Altamirano. This was a special batch of Espadin made by the normal Mezcaleros father or grandfather, I forget the exact story. They have a bottle at Cultura Mezcaleria in Carmel California. This is something special. Rich, creamy, and smooth. Not at all hot, despite the high abv. Chocolate, cedar, sandalwood, and hazelnut. This is one of the best Espadins I’ve ever had.

I forgot to write down the lot number for this one but it was absolutely brilliant!!! Very savory and complex, like an herbal liqueur. Caramel, clove, cinnamon, coconut, vanilla, allspice, flan, kalua, baileys, benedictine. So creamy!

Lot 09. Excellent Tobaziche!!! Very complex! Thyme, sage, cilantro, coconut milk and clove. Very creamy.

Lot 13. Wow! Creamy and delicious!! Like stepping into a cool adobe house in the desert. Very earthy with notes of marzipan and ginger. I can’t wait to try all of these!

Edition 15 from Don Goyo!! Gregorio Martínez Garcia. Tried this at the excellent Cultura restaurant and Mezcaleria in Carmel California. Complex mix of sweet, vegetal, and earthy. Banana, bubblegum, leather, tobacco, and fresh serrano pepper. I’ve heard he no longer works for EJ so you’ll probably have to stop by his palenque in San Baltazar Guelavila to get some. Pick up some of his Tepextate while you’re at it.

Lot 11. Ignacio Parada. Initial vegetal smell like raw broccoli. Creamy. Dusty leather, pear, honeydew melon, tarragon and mint. Very nice.

Lot 07. Gregorio Hernández. This was like dessert! Sweet with a long tasty finish. Jasmine flower, wildflower honey, vanilla ice cream, and cloves. Yum.

D5008B-J. Strong nail polish smell. Flavor more sweet and floral. Jasmine, orange blossom, bubble gum. Nowhere near as good as El Jolgorio or Del Maguey’s Jabali.

PM03. Cheese funk, like aged cotija. Tropical fruits. Pineapple, guava, soursop.

SN04. Somebody mentioned new tennis balls and it stuck in my head, but that’s not quite it….it’s like my grandfathers garage. Mysterious. Smooth, creamy, and mysterious. It might take the full bottle to wrap my head around this one.

Lot 23. A new agave to add to my list! Exciting! It’s up to 85 now! I hope some ethnobotanist figures out which agaves are true separate species, sub-species, or just different regional names for the same thing. Anyways, when I tasted this I thought it was very similar to Derrumbes San Luis Potosí. Very complex, funky, vegetal. I kept thinking of a Parmesan cheese omelet with some fresh green bell pepper. I wonder if Warash is similar to Salmiana? I prefer the Derrumbes however.

DS001 ECT. Smelled like wet dog, but not in a bad way. The funk was more on the nose than the tongue. Cucumber, wasabi, medjool dates, and red licorice. I like it!

Lot 09. Ignacio Parada. Fresh berries, strawberries and raspberries, fresh mint, and wet forest leaves. Excellent Mexicano!

Edition 16. Rafael Mendez Cruz. Classic Tepextate. Fresh jalapeño, fresh green bell pepper, cacao nibs, and roses. I miss the old Don Goyo Tepextate but this one is very good.

Edition 11. Ignacio Parada. WOW! Fresh Jalepeño, bell pepper, caramel, mint, something earthy and vegetal like a warehouse of drying tobacco leaves. Burning incense, warm spices like clove and allspice. Another 5 stars for one of my favorite brands and Mezcaleros.

Lot 03. Black bottle. Ignacio Parada. WOW. This is my kind of Mezcal. 10/10. Maybe even 100/100. With every sip it grew more and more complex. This stuff is magic in a bottle. Flowers, so many flowers! Jalapeño, cinnamon, clove, apple pie, volcanic rock, cardamom, pecans. Desert island bottle for me.

Rmtr-01. Not bad, more of a 3.5 for me. Spice, minerality, and vegetal flavors. Black pepper, caramel, boiled artichoke, wet sand, and green olive. I brought back a bottle of tripon in December from Palenque El Conejo in Minas that absolutely blew this one away so that probably colored my judgement of this one.

RMTR-03. WAY better than 01!! Creamy and luscious with notes of baked clay, dried coconut, and roasted peanuts. 4.5 stars.

Rml-06. People really seem to love this one. I wanted to like it but my girlfriend and I both found it mediocre. Nail polish remover, clay dust, jasmine flower. Thin body, not at all creamy, short finish.

RML-09. Creamy, menthol, white pepper, rosewater. Just ok.