Better than I expected. Salty sea breeze on the nose. Very savory palate of bbq chips, mesquite, pine bark. Finish comes with a blast of paprika, spice, and smoke. I found it interesting how the smoke mostly came on the back end…like a last second ambush.

Mesquite BBQ and sweet cooked agave. There wasn’t anything extremely memorable about this one as it was a very straight forward Espadin. Nevertheless, it was certainly enjoyable. The tasty mesquite notes combined with the caramelized agave made me think of a delicious pulled pork or carnitas. 2017 Edition 31.

Smokey, pungent, and sweet. Lots of smoke all arround, but it’s offset by other characteristics like citrus. While it had a vegetal green agave pungency, it also had sweet cooked agave, especially on the palate. A strong black pepper and mineral finish with oily mouthfeel. I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, but that pungent note makes this taste more like a “smokey Tequila” than a mezcal.

Full-bodied, bright, and robust. Lots of character on this one. Jumps at your nose and has a great viscous and oily mouth feel. I got cooked agave, fruit, citrus, mint, smoke, and a touch of olive-oil brine. Lot 32 sipped with one of the brand owners at Plaza Santo Domingo in Oaxaca. Does it get any better than that? OK….maybe if we were at their palenque in the mountains 🙂

For the price, this was surprisingly good. I kept thinking there was a catch, but the more I learned about the brand, the more I realized it was legit. Cooked agave, island fruit, and some light smoke on this one.

Sweet and unrefined. This bottle was the closest thing to sucking the juice off fibers of a freshly caramelized agave – an experience I hope every mezcal lover will have at some point. Robust in sweetness as expected…like sugar in the raw. Roasted agave and sea breeze on the nose. I tried a different bottle that was less sugary and had more mineral and pepper notes, especially on the finish.

A quintessential Espadin. Green and cooked agave, a good play between sweetness, smoke, minerals, earth, citrus, mint. Reminded me of a really good tequila. I docked it half a star because of alcohol that trailed all these notes – even after letting it sit for a while.

Deep, dark, earthy, and sweet. Leather on the nose was a fun experience. This was delicious to the point that I bought a bottle for my collection.

Grassy, sour, nutty – I dig it. Definitely different from mezcal…more on the earthy and vegetal side. First and only sotol I’ve tried up to this point, but I hope it’s not the last.

BOLD! Love it! Cheesy funk on the initial nose which turns to melon, especially honeydew, some tropical fruits. Spice on the palate, that cool refreshing wintergreen mint feeling/taste that I get from some clay pot distilled mezcal. Finish has minerals, cooked agave, finally at hint of smoke and touch of clean ash on the tail-end. Beautiful and wild ride. SN01

WOW! Every now and then, you have that reaction, and this one does it for me. As of now, it’s one my all-time favorites. There’s a ton of spicy vegetalness and lots of complexity. Has that typical tepe greenness, but with a nice layer of pepper, jalapeno to go with it. I have a hard time putting my finger on other notes, but that’s one reason I like this one some much. Beyond description for me.

Probably the only 2-star mezcal I’ve ever had. My friend bought this and wanted me to try it. Smell reminded me of wet band-aid. In the mouth it felt very thin and watery. If I tried hard enough, I could pick out some cooked agave, menthol, and smoke. Finish was mostly alcohol burn. I’m glad I tried it because it made me appreciate quality mezcal even more.

Very balanced recipe. Espadin as a base gives it sweetness, the Madre Cuishe provides a crispy citrus pop, and the Tobala (least prominent to me) adds a touch of fruitiness. After drinking higher-proof mezcal, this can seem a little watered down, so be sure to enjoy it on the front end of a tasting. It’s softness makes it very approachable to newbies and a great choice as a daily drinker.

Unique! Tons of mineral, salt crystal, clean white ash. Much to enjoy.

This one turned me on to Cupreatas. I found the nose to be the most intriguing aspect of this mezcal. It seemed herbal…I have a hard time putting my finger on it, but I got cheese, green peppers, Elmers’s glue (in a good way), and sweetness. Mouth is more standard with minerals, smoke, cooked agave, molasses candy, and peppercorn. Finish is very much like the palate with addition of peppermint, and a touch of ash.
Overall, whenever I drank it, I couldn’t help but think of bright green herbs – almost like I was consuming a live plant that was soaked in fresh rain. Not to the point of a Tepeztate, but heading in that direction.

On the nose I get his overwhelming scent that always makes me think of jumping into a refreshing pool. I know that’s obscure sounding, but I think the feeling comes from fresh/bright herbal notes…OR…as I took a peak at some of the other reviews, maybe it’s the clay minerality that was hitting me. I didn’t know this was clay pot distilled at the time I was drinking it. Either way, it was so apparent, it almost made me think I was accidentally served #13 which has the herbaceous tasting Tepeztate in it.

So yes, there was definitely minerality and cooked agave on the nose. Got spice, minerals, and light smoke on the mouth, and it had a long finish which I always enjoy. Outside of the nose, I found it to be balanced.

190/282 RMC-01 2015. Sampled at a tasting put on by William Scanlan. I’ll be honest, there was one aspect about this one that hit me so hard, I barely recall anything else: BANANAS!

I feel bad, because as soon my buddies and I started sipping on this one, I just blurted it out and they complained they couldn’t think of anything else other than bananas – the ripe and sweet kind. I did like it and would consider adding a bottle to my collection.

One of the first mezcals I purchased, and whenever I go back to this bottle, I’m reminded of how much I like it. My least favorite aspect is the alcohol on the nose, but that quickly gets set aside as I also pick up a combo of smoke and sweetness. It has a creamy mouthfeel and makes my gums and tongue tingle. Tropical fruit and caramelized agave on the palate, followed by the best part – the finish!

I love the finish on this. Not only does it linger, but it has such a pleasant minerality (like sucking on a sun-dried river rock) coupled with a candy-like bubblegum sweetness. Yum!

This was tasty, but I spent most of the time thinking of how this reminded me of Tequila. I actually do like Tequila repos quite a bit. I was hoping this would have more carmel and oak notes, but it was pretty faint.

This one actually reminded me a lot of tequila. It had green uncooked agave notes, with some spice. It had a layer of smoke on top of that, but there was also something sterile about it. I would imagine the triple distillation would be the cause.

Not what I look for in a mezcal, but it’s certainly not bad.