**Batch:** RMCES100419NS

**Nose:** Roasted Bell Peppers, Minerality, Black Pepper, light meaty smoke.

**Palate:** Medium mouthfeel. Tangy, Minerality, Green Bell Peppers, light clean smoke, earthy, acidic.

**Finish:** Medium length, Warm and Dry. Spicy, Green Peppers, Minerality, Earthy.

This is good, it has some nice flavors going on in it, but its not tasty as some of the other expressions, and has a weird off note that accompanies the palate and finish. Still a good showing though.

Nose: Strong Red Berries, Vanilla frosting, Blueberries, Mesquite, slight spicy

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, strong mesquite, Strong Red berries, Black Peppers, vanilla frosting, tangy,

Finish: Medium finish, peppery, spicy. Mesquite, strawberry, vanilla frosting

This is a nice offering. Packed full of good strong flavors that complement each other well, it never strays too far into overly sweet or overly savory.

Edition 5 from 2018Nose: Red Berries, Cream Cheese, Allspice, Slight peppers, Apricot, light green vegetal.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Spicy, Green Vegetal, Red Berries, light clean smoke.

Finish: Short Length, warm. Cream Cheese, Red Berries, Pepper,

This is a tasty bottle. Good balance, nice flavors, and it has a bit of pop when it comes to the spiciness and the fruit flavors. The finish is on the shorter side, which brings it down a bit for me.

Nose: Strong Apple, Pineapple, Guava, slight meat funk, light antiseptic.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, but with a meaty texture that lasts. Heavy Apple, Guava, light meat funk, licorice, antiseptic.

Finish: Medium length, warm, apple, licorice, mango, light clean smoke.

I had to sit with this for awhile to figure out how I felt about it and its just fine. It has some good strong fruity flavors, that apple is delicious and very prominent as are some other fruits. What brings it down for me is this strong licorice/ antiseptic esque flavor that seems to dominate as an undertone to the whole experience. That might sounds good to you but this is a touch too weird for me.

Lot: TEJ971219

**ABV:** 47%

**Nose:** Heavy Vegetal, Green Bell Peppers, Steamed Lettuce, Minerality,

**Palate:** Medium mouthfeel. Warm, Green Bell Peppers, Veggie Forward, Minerals, Earthy, Peppery, industrial smoke, brine

**Finish:** Medium Length, dry, dirty minerality, Green Bell Peppers, Spicy, Slight Mango, Earthy, brine

This is a vegetal, somewhat “gritty” smoke forward offering and it is good because of that. Compared to some other offerings I have had it feels very “unrefined” in a way. This comes at you with big bold good flavors.

Lot 2

Nose: Earthy, Mesquite, Green Bell Peppers, Light Mango, Black Tea.

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Mesquite, Earthy, black tea, minerals, mango, Green Peppers, Cumin, roasted agave.

Finish: Long, Warm and dry. Earthy/Clay, Bell Peppers, black peppercorn, Light Brine, Mesquite, roasted agave.

Rating: 6/10

The finish is what really sticks out on this. It lingers forever with a warm, peppery, salty, mesquite lead tingle that is very delightful. It leans more on the savory side of flavors which is good and has a nice depth and complexity.

Nose: Vegetal, fresh cut greens, roasted peppers, raspberry sweetness, light blueberry.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Vegetal, peppers, steamed greens, light campfire smoke, tartness, light minerality, brine.

Finish: Medium length, warm. Strong Vegetalness, light smoke, tartness.

This is a good release. It is one of the most green/vegetal forward mezcals I have tried but that is a good thing. It’s a little one note in its vegetalness but overall I like the savoriness that it commands. It is brought down a little by being so one note but still a good release from Banhez.

Date: 4-17
Lot 4
Bottle 25-280

Agave Maximiana

**ABV:** 61.8%

**Nose:** Strong, pungent. Ripe red strawberries, fruity pebbles, clay, peppers, agave funk.

**Palate:** Medium oily mouthfeel. Dry, Strawberries, clay, roasted green peppers, clay, earthiness, slight minerality. Light funk, slight salt.

**Finish:** Long length, dry. Fruity pebbles, roasted peppers, earthiness, minerality, slight funk.

This thing is an all out assault of red berries all throughout, almost sugary cereal-esque in pure pungentness. This plays well with the more savory flavors of the peppers, clay, and the light agave funk that this bottling has. I can see why this is considered a choice cut due to how intense the flavor is.

Nose: Strong, Punchy. Fresh Ripe Strawberries, savory minerality, Roasted Bell Peppers, slight meatiness,

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel. Fresh Ripe Strawberries, tangy citrus, lemon zest, savory black pepper.

Finish: Long length, warm, roasted pepper, eucalyptus, ripe strawberries, mango, lemon zest, minerality, mesquite, brine. The mesquite and minerals linger for awhile on your breath.

Rating: 9/10

This is a well balanced delicious offering that I want a full bottle of in front me now. Strong bright fruits, savory minerals and vegetables with some earthiness to it. Bozal has impressed me with the few offerings I have had from them, and I look forward to trying more of this line.

Macra Negra Ensamble

Espadin, San Martin & Mexicano. La Noria Secc 13, Ejutla

Batch XBP0617

This is an Ensamble from Macra Negra, let’s dive in.

ABV: 49.6% ABV

Nose: Green Bell Peppers, Slight Onion, guava, minerals,

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. Warm. Green Peppers, slight mesquite, creamy. Green Onion, slight spice.

Finish: Long, strong green pepper, green onion, spicy. Creamy. Mesquite, mineral.

ManoNegra Tobala

Batch 09-2011 456/750

This is a tobala Mezcal spirit, made by Jorge Mendez Ramierz in San Juan Del Rio. Let’s see how it holds up.

ABV: 48%

Nose: Black Pepper, spicy, Earthy, Red Berries.

Palate: Medium Mouthfeel, Black Pepper, Spicy. Mineraly, tangy citrus. Sweet bell pepper.

Finish: Medium length, warm. Minerals, slight earth. Pepper, citrus.

A pretty tasty offering. Some nice mineralty in there, mixed with some earthiness and sweetnesss. Tasty and something I wouldn’t mind a full bottle of.

Nose: Mineraly, pungent fruits, brine, slight vanilla

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel, slight pungent fruits, vanilla, Earthy, slight dark chocolate. Spicy, Green Peppers

Finish: Medium length, tart pungent fruits, banana, slight pineapple. Earthy, New sprouting plants.

Rating: 6/10

This is really different and interesting from the other mezcals I’ve tried so far. It leans far more into the savory flavors with the earthy, briney, pungentness. The nose and palate is kind of like being in the forest in the spring when the plants are growing (yes absurd but that’s what it reminds me of)

Nose: Slight citrus sweetness, pepper, spice,

Palate: Thinnish mouthfeel, light smoke. Slight citrus sweetness, black pepper, slight spice, minerally.

Finish: Short, slight earthiness, light smoke, citrus, vanilla, mineraly.

Rating: 4/10

This proof on this one really hurts it. I can see there are good flavors underneath, but it all feels very muted. I like the citrus and peppery undertones here, they play well together with some of the agave-esque mineraliness that is here. But overall, I would spend a little more and grab a 50ish dollar espadin instead.

Nose: Light and flora, honey, nectarines, Earthy.

Palate: Thick and oily mouthfeel. Floral, honey, mineral, earthy, peppery,

Finish: Medium length, peppery, mineraly, clay, slight honey and floralness.

This stuff is tasty and refreshing, the slight fruit hints play well with the main mineral earthiness and pepper notes in there to pull of a very tasty flavor profile that I could come back to easily.

Nose: Red Berries, Mango, Earthy and minerals, vanilla, Brine, baking spice.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, red berries, earth, minerals, mangos, slight smoke, baking spice.

Finish: Medium length, smoke, earth, berries, brine, vanilla.

This is a tasty, fruity, powerful mezcal, the nose on this is the best part, but the flavor and finish hold it up as well. This is one of the tastiest 90 proof spirits I have ever had.

Mezcal Vago Elote

This is an Offering from Vago, produced by Aquilino García López. This is made from Aave Espadin that has been infused with toasted corn similar to the Pechuga fasion.

ABV: 51.1%

Nose: Earthy, clay, peppery, spicy, slight corn.

Palate: Medium oily mouthfeel, warm, Musty Corn, Earthy, Clay, Pepper, Heat

Finish: Medium Length, Corn, Earth, Pepper, Spice, Must, Baking Spices.

Overall this is a good offering, the corn notes are subtle enough not to be overpowering, but add an interesting flavor that I have not had in any of the Mezcal I have tried so far. Given this is one of the more affordable bottles around me in terms of Mezcal, this is an easy future pickup.

El Jolgario Nuestra Soledad Stgo Matazlan 2017

Nuestra Soledad Santiago Matatlan is made using Espadin that grows between 5,500-5,900 feet elevation in a mountain canyon that has incredible agave diversity. The Espadin used in this Mezcal grows among a sea of wild Tepeztate, Tobala, and Coyote.

ABV:46%

Nose: Black Pepper, Earthy, Bell Peppers, Light Smoke

Palate: Medium, Oily Mouthfeel, Peppery, Bell Peppery, Slight Heat, Earthy, Spicy.

Finish: Earthy, Pepper, Some Spice that fades quick.

Nice Savory Flavors, the finish is a little short but this is an overall very solid offering.

Mezcaleros #21 Don Baltazar Cruz

This is a blend of 3 agave varieties: Cirial, Tepextate, and Tobala. These 3 varieties were distilled then married for 22 months in a rest tank before bottling.

ABV: 48%

Nose: Lemony, Citrus, Earthy, Peppers.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel, Earth, Lemon, Citrus, Peppers, Mango, Red Apple, Pineapple.

Finish: Medium Length, Earth, Lemon, Citrus, with slight mango fruit notes that fade out

This stuff strikes a balance between the earthy more peppery notes and the fruity sweeter sides of things. If I had a bottle of this, it would not last long.

Mezcal Vago Ensamble en Barro

Tio Rey

December 2018 Distillation Date

This will be my first Mezcal review

ABV: 48.5%

Nose: A sweetness, similar to aloe vera without the chemicalness, campfire smoke like its been burning on a nice evening, savory, hints of fruits and maybe some meat flavor to it.

Palate: Campfire smoke, Aloe sweetness, with the fruity hint. Delicious with a good mouthfeel to it.

Finish: Medium length, Smokey, agave sweetness, with other flavors I will admit to having some issues identifying. But they are good.

This spirit style is so different from anything Ive tried thus far, and I look forward to exploring more of them. Of the few Mezcals Ive tried so far this one is savory, sweet with a good balance of the smokieness that goes along with. A great summer drink.