ESTBZ 03-19

This was a really great offering. Big minerality and Wood Charred vegetables up front with hints of Lemon Zest and rubber sprinkled throughout. The clay influence on this is pretty strong a brings a hint of sweetness. The spice is well integrated as well.

Nose: Cream Cheese, Olive Oil, Slight chlorine, Minerality,

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Strong Olive Oil, Minerality, Brine, Cream Cheese, Pool Water,

Finish: Shorter finish. Pop of chlorine, Olive Oil, Minerality, Brine

On the weird side, but overally very good. It reminds me of sitting next to a pool that has just been bodied by a bunch of chlorine but in a good way. Super funky but with good flavors that keep me coming back.

This is Batch D-03-19, which is for the Madre Resturant

Nose: Fresh green vegetables, raw bell peppers, spinach, Red berries, spearmint, rainwater, meatiness, Red Apple

Palate: Thick oily mouthfeel. Big burst of red berries, apple, rainwater, raw bell peppers, spearmint, pear, mineralty

Finish: Long finish. Warm and dry. Red berries, red apple, raw bell peppers, minerality, cumin, sea salt, pear, spearmint, slight meatiness, black pepper

There isn’t much to say, except this is pretty much the perfect mezcal. It explodes with flavor on the nose and palate, and finished with a long lingering blast of flavor. Loads of spices, fruits, slight meatiness, minerality. The rainwater note is something I love in a mezcal and this bursts with it. This is all the flavors I want and love in a mezcal turned up to 11

Agave: Tobala & Tobaziche

Batch: MDRLA 01-19

ABV: 47.1%

Nose: Raw Green Peppers, fruits, blueberries, apple, orange peel, Minerality.

Palate: Thick, oily mouthfeel. Heavy blueberry, crisp rainwater, light leather, tart rasberries, raw green vegetalness, wildflower.

Finish: Medium length finish. Warm, Crisp Rainwater, fresh cut green peppers, tart rasberries, faint earthiness, strong raspberries and blueberry.

Rating: 9/10

This is a rich and delicious Destilado de Agave. It veers towards overly sweet with these strong fruit notes, but is saved by some nice minerality, slight vegetalness, and the earthiness. Well balanced, very complex, this is quite a delight to drink. As I sit here sipping on my sample I wish I had more than 2 ounces of it to drink. This is quite the outstanding agave spirit.

HER-TEP-001 Bottle 119

Nose: Strong green vegetal, Green bell pepper, raspberries, minerality, earthiness, vanilla cream.

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Green bell pepper, vanilla cream, minerality, earthiness, faint ash.

Finish: Medium length, warm and dry. Minerality, earthiness, vanilla cream, and strong green bell peppers.

Really rich and decadent. Tons of green vegetal notes, hints of sweetness from the vanilla and fruit, with some nice minerality to balance it out. This is crisp, clean, and one of my favorite bottlings from Maguey Melate.

Nose: Minerality, Earthy, Raw Green Bell Peppers, light mango

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Strong Minerality, Eathiness, raw Green Bell Peppers, mango sweetness, light chalk, red berries, rainwater freshness.

Finish: Long finish. Warm. Pop of Bell Peppers, black pepper, chalky minerality, light mango sweetness , pop of red berries.

Really quite exceptional. Loads of minerals, chalk, green vegetalness, hints of fruit sweetness, with a nice rainwater crisp freshness that permeates the experience. This is an incredibly flavorful and delicious Mezcal.

Batch: MADRLA02-19

Nose: Fresh chopped green veggies, minerality, Raspberries, mint, salinity, guava, guava, peppery, Raw Green Bell Peppers, a bit of earthiness.

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel, cucumber, lemon zest, fresh green veggies, herbaceous, salinity, Raw Green Bell Peppers.

Finish: Medium length, sharp red berries, apricot, fresh cut cucumbers, refreshing vegetal greens, Raw Green Bell Peppers.

Rating: 8/10

This is a delicious mezcal. The huge green vegetalness is there, lots of raw vegetables, spices, and some pops of fruit to balance out the aggressive vegetalness. Some spices and pops of cream cheese pop in for me that make this a wonderfully layered, complex, and refreshing drink.

I had this blind, so keep that in mind when reading these notes

Nose: Earthy, Minerality, lemon zest, brine, light smoked meat, cream cheese,

Palate: Light mouthfeel, light cream cheese, slight earthy minerality, light campfire smoke.

Finish: Short, brine, minerals, black pepper, light cream funk, light campfire smoke.

Rating: 5/10

This isn’t bad, it has some good flavors going on it, but it feels really muted and could benefit from a bit more proof perhaps. Its inoffensive. The nose writes a check the palate and finish could not cash.

This has good stuff going on under it all, and the nose was interesting. However, it is knocked down for just falling into the inoffensive side of the flavor spectrum for me. For a budget option though, you could do much worse and this would be a good bottle to introduce someone to Mezcal, and good budget option.

Nose: Minerality, Earthy, light faint fruit, apple, light fig. Slight oak spice, anise.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Warm. Minerality, slight black peppercorns, red apple, anise, some earth.

Finish: Medium length, minerality, brown sugar, black pepper, very faint apple.

I think this is tasty. It has nice flavors, with some light fruits and spices that are decently balanced. I’m pretty surprised that this is a pechuga as the fruits are very faint for me. If you gave this to me blind I would not have pegged it as an Espadin, but it is still a good and well-made Mezcal.

Batch: 14ACDI60118

ABV: 48%

Nose: Green vegetalness, slight lactic acid, salt, light pear, bubblegum, strawberry,

Palate: Medium, oily mouthfeel. Bright, vegetal, light pear, strawberry, brine, nutmeg, light ash, cream cheese funk.

Finish: Long, warm and dry. Strong green vegetals, brine, strawberry, allspice, smoked pork.

I really like this. It has a nice funkiness of flavors going on in it that seem to compliment each other very well. I know I wish I had a full bottle of this instead of this small sample, but this scratches my itch for a fruity, funky, slightly meaty mezcal.

Batch: BER-MEX-001

Nose: Briny, Raspberries, Vanilla Frosting, slight earth, campfire smoke, cream cheese,

Palate: Thick tingly mouthfeel, Raspberries, tart blueberries, vanilla frosting, cream cheese, campfire smoke, brine, mineraly, Dark chocolate,

Finish: Medium length, tart blueberries, vanilla cream, cream cheese, nutmeg, light campfire smoke, dark chocolate,

This stuff packs quite a punch and is full of flavor, lots of rich deep fruits, dark chocolate, and savory spice and minerals in there. I wish I had been in the club when this came out because this stuff is fantastic.

Batch: NOE-COY-001

Nose: Herbal, Earthy, Mineraly, rubbery, slight leather hint, buttercream frosting

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Warm. Herabalness, slight florality, rubbery, campfire smoke, over-ripe banana. Toffee.

Finish: Medium length, saline, floralness, slight earth and guava.

This is a good showing from Noe Garcia. This leans more on the savory side with tons of herbalness and floralness, but with a nice hint of candy sweetness and light fruits. The rubbery note hold it back a bit this is is still a tasty mezcal.

Batch: FEL-TOB-001

Nose: Pungent and savory. Olives, oregano, cooked spinach, saffron, cream cheese

Palate: Oily full mouthfeel. Olives, oregano, clay and earthy. Minerality, cooked greens, slight smoked pork, cheese funk.

Finish: Medium length, warm, savory spices, olives, saline, slight smoked pork

This stuff is delicious, weird, and unique. Tons of savory spices here, lots of olive, pepper, oregano, it’s like pizza seasoning in a bottle with some slight greenness and meatiness to go with it.

Batch:July 2019

Lot: E-19-E-19

ABV: 49.9%

Nose: Minerals, light earthiness, peppercorn, salt, roasted bell peppers,

Palate: Thick oily mouthfeel. Warm and dry. An explosion of lemon zest, peppercorns, light vanilla sweetness, slight blueberry and strawberry sweetness, mango sneaks in.

Finish: Medium length, tangy. Lemon zest, peppercorns, blueberry and strawberry, earth and minerals.

Simply delicious. This is up there with some of my favorite Espadins. Lots of fruits, good savory spices and some earthiness round it all together. The palate is just an explosion of flavors that make it a joy to sit and sip on.

Batch RMB-02 2014 Harvest

Nose: Allspice, Black Pepper, Brown Sugar, light corn sweetness, salted Pork

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, allspice, brown sugar, salted meats, light clay and earth.

Finish: Medium length, allspice, very dry finish, salted meat, light leather, musty corn.

Oh man this was a real treat, so much allspice, slight sweetness, and some salted meats in there make this a real treat. In this I have to give an edge to the father as this batch is right up my alley with these tasting notes.

Batch: SEM-ARR-001

Nose: Aromatic, cotton candy, vanilla cream, cream cheese

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Warm, cream cheese, minerals, earthy, Bell Peppers, coriander,

Finish: Medium length. Warm and moist. Minerals, Cream Cheese, Bubblegum, peppery.

This one leans to the sweet side of mezcals but it works well. Bursts with cotton candy and vanilla sweetness that permeates throughout. Mixed in is some savory spices like pepper, light vegetalness, some minerals. A good showing and selection from Maguey Melate.

Batch: JA03-18

Nose: Fresh leather, green vegetalness, cumin, salt.

Palate: Lighter mouthfeel. Leather, salt, vegetables, mint, very faint clean smoke,

Finish: Medium length. Refreshing, salt, mint, leathery, vegetalness, clean smoke.

This feels pretty light in the mouth, but still managers to be full of flavor and refreshing. Savory vegetables and spices mix well with some light smoke and slight wood spice that make this a delicious drink. The leather that is present throughout makes this a very unique drink.

Edition 8, 2006 Harvest Rafael Méndez Cruz

ABV: 47.8%

Nose: Fresh cut Green Bell Peppers, Wildflowers, light Earthiness, orange citrus, mint.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Warm. Vegetal Greens, Green Bell Peppers, Floralness, orange citrus, coriander, light Raspberry, milk chocolate, allspice.

Finish: Long, warm and moist. Earthy, Peppery, Wildflowers, light honey , allspice, mint,

This is really impressive. It bursts with tons of flavor across the palate, it has a good balance of savory and sweet but is upfront with great big green / vegetal flavors. I’d crush through a bottle of this if I had one its so nice and refreshing.

Lot 00219

Nose: Meat like dried and smoked pork, pepper, brine. Sweet, guava, mango, and some dark chocolate in there. A bit of earthiness comes through.

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Dried and smoked meat, smoke, earthiness. Dark Chocolate, pineapple, mango, heavy brine, peppery.

Finish: Medium length. Dry. Meaty, Briney, light mango, peppery, earthy.

This is vastly different from the other Tobala’s I have had. It way more balanced and leans heavily into this meaty and briney profile that I really dig. Lots of salt, earth, and meat with some light fruits sprinkled in make this a real winner in my book .

Batch: IPMES240718NS

Nose: Pungent, Fruity, Raspberry, Vanilla Frosting, brine, earthy,

Palate: Light mouthfeel, Raspberry, Earthy, Strong Pepper, green vegetal.

Finish: Medium length, green vegetal, pepper, slight spice, earthy.

Despite the lighter mouthfeel this has pretty good flavor and is tasty to drink. The slight fruitiness offsets the strong vegetal, brine, and spicy flavors nicely.