Nose – Jalapeno seeds. Rubber tree. Chalkboard brush dust.

Palate – Heavily-candied, roasted jalapenos. Serrano pepper flavor but not near as spicy. Wet basil. Heavy on the mint and sugary sweetness, like trying to suck up the remnants of a mojito with a straw. Menthol cigarette aftertaste. I think this may be the sweetest Tepeztate I’ve had (a little bit much).

Batch: MIA-A2002US
Nose – White pepper. Sugar water.

Palate – Hot n’ spicy! Mint leaves. Black peppercorn. Sugar in the Raw crystals. Wet ash. The spiciness of this is interesting but the sweet aspect is kinda bland.

Nose – Floral. Black licorice.

Palate – Not quite ripe plums. Sawdust. Spicy, ginger heat. Anise. Watery mouthfeel. Long hot and floral finish. Menthol cigarette aftertaste.

Plenty of complexity and flavor in this one but doesn’t quite hit the target for me.

Nose – Sugar glazed, lemon poppy seed cake.

Palate – Dark chocolate pudding. Clay. A nice slippery, mouthfeel. Packs a hot punch and great flavor for 46% ABV. Dry, ashy finish. The dark chocolate/clay notes stick around well into the aftertaste.

Only a 1 oz sample that went way too soon. Great stuff!

Lote: 27
Nose – Light flavors on the nose. Lemon peel.

Palate – Anise. Lemonade. Lemon rind. Floral aftertaste.

I love the La Luna Chino and the Bruto individually. Together, they aren’t the best of both world but still make a good ensamble.

Nose – Vibrant and green. Herbal iced tea.

Palate – Pan-fried green pepper in olive oil. Diluted sugar water sweetness. Big white pepper heat in the finish. This one is OK but falls a bit flat. I tried the Reina Sanchez Tepeztate last month with Maguey Melate and it was far superior.

Nose – Pine sap. Flower water left in a vase.

Palate – Sprite soda. Hot and a tad rough for 45%. Floral and grassy finish but more bitter than sweet. Dry, pine wood aftertaste. Not really picking up much of the Tobala, the Karwinski reigns in this ensamble.

Nose – Chocolate marble cake. Mint chip.

Palate – Comes in hot n’ heavy even at 55% ABV. Semi-sweet chocolate chip. Minty heat. 80’s cologne. Very dry finish. This is almost a 4 star mezcal IMO but seeing though as it’s $200 a bottle I’ll shave it down to 3.5 stars (i.e. way better mezcals for much less). Arroquenos usually struggle to resonate with me, this is no exception.

Lot: 28 Botella: 1124/1344
Nose – Grassy nose.

Palate – A rock candy sugar pop. Anise. Black licorice. Green tasting but more bitter flower stems. The anise carries through a bit much into the finish and mingles with the smoke. A comforting oatmeal note in the aftertaste. A super clean mezcal. Overall, this is a very good sipping espadin that I think will grow on me even more. Seeing as though it’s around $50, it’s great value.

Nose – Chocolate cake batter. Olive oil. Blooming lavender.

Palate – A 5 star restaurant chocolate mousse whipped with clay. This stuff is so good that I had to pause, waiting for my eyes to roll back, take in a bit of air and prolong every precious millisecond.

Nose – Dried pineapple.

Palate – A&W root beer. Big Red gum. A big mix of fruit – like a fresh, tropical punch smoothie. Punches right at it’s weight heat-wise at 50% ABV. The sweet, fruity theme remains long in to the finish along with dried rolling tobacco. The back end gets a bit dry. I’d say this is about 4.25 stars but with the price point I’ll round down in this instance. This is definitely as good as say a Derrumbes or Origen Raiz cenizo from Durango but not quite the value.

Lote: 6 Botella: 549/1450 (03/18)
Nose – Vanilla. Root beer.

Palate – Dried dark cherry forward. Fruit punch lingering in the background. I like the oaky smokiness and how in balance it is with the heat (a mix of peppermint and white pepper). Finish still holds that fruity sweetness and I pick up a nice clay note. This doesn’t have the funky aspect that comes with several Durangensis that I’ve tried. This mezcal goes down dangerously easy!

Lote: 30
Nose – Limeade. Rubber. Sweet, smoky notes.

Palate – Roasted azul maguey, slightly crispy. Slick mouthfeel. I always seem to get an awesome pink lemonade influence with La Luna chino maguey and it’s in the mix here too. Black pepper comes through in the finish. Honey in the aftertaste. Like Tyler alluded too there is a quality blanco tequila in here with a tasty cupreata.

LOT A2-12-EL-20
Nose – Frozen corn (slight aroma but not much). Raw grapefruit juice.

Palate – Much sweeter than Padre’s elote. The heat at relatively the same ABV is optimized by the Hijos (i.e. less intense). More texture and viscosity from what I recall (although a side-by-side seems to be in order). Tasting some clay. Grilled, salted and buttered sweet corn on the finish. A tinge of grapefruit and some grassiness in the aftertaste. Smoke throughout is balanced nicely.

For the Mexicano comparison, I thought Aquilino’s was better. With this Elote, the Hijos take it hands down (and I quite liked the Aquilino’s). Great work lads! Seeing as though this bottle is about a $50 sipper – exceptional value here. I’d rate this 4.5 stars on its own but it’s getting a bang-for-your-buck bump here to 5 stars

Lot: 27 Botella: 14/180
Nose – Camembert cheese. Milk chocolate.

Palate – Much grassier than most tobala I’ve had. Granite. Baking chocolate. Coats nicely. Like razorbackmike noted, this doesn’t have the sweet aspect of a lot of tobalas out there. It’s certainly unique but I usually go for a tobala for that reason (more sweetness). The quality is here though, it’s a very good mezcal. I would give this 3.75 stars but I’ll round up because it’s price point is decent compared to other tobaba bottles. Give it a go!

Nose – Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Gouda cheese.

Palate – Medium viscosity with a slight sediment feel to it (although it’s clear). A subtle burnt cheese note – like a processed cheese (that have the individual wrappers) on toast cooked a bit too long on broil. Mint chocolate chip. Plywood. Sugar water in the aftertaste (the flavors fall off sharply after the finish).

Batch: YJ15-18 Bottle: 555/720
Nose – Rosemary, salt and pepper seasoned, rotisserie chicken drumstick. Chocolate-dusted almonds.

Palate – Soft, icing sugar sweetness and delicate poultry (a medium-rare duck breast). This is very well-balanced the whole way through although I feel like it would be even a little better at a 48%-ish ABV (vs. 45% where it’s at). This is in the 4.25-ish range and I’d like round up but this bottle is quite pricy (although I got it on sale) – so rounding down to 4 stars.

I tried this batch at Lidia’s palenque in June (great place and wonderful people) and then sampled her local brand (Desda la Eternidad). The espadin itself was decent although only slightly better than good sippable cocktail espadins (nice orange/vanilla sweetness but overall the smoke was a a tad rough). As I tried all of her other expressions I thought they were much better. I ended up buying a Coyote/Tobala/Cuishe/Espadin ensamble which was by far my favorite. Lidia is an excellent mezcalera and I was very glad to try her entire line.

Lot: 002-MP Bottle: 102/720
Nose – Wild Cherry Pepsi. A sugar-glazed oatmeal raisin cookie.

Palate – Tropical flower potpourri. Big animal cracker note. Vanilla. Dead grass. Dried mint. The heat is on the light side for 50.2% ABV. Mineral finish – slightly saline at first but then the clay breaks through and is predominant well into the aftertaste. Smoke throughout is medium but really tastes amazing with the clay on the back end of this Masparillo journey. This stuff is an absolute treat!

Lot: 19, Bottella: 060/264
Nose – Delicious candied jalapeno ice cream (or what I imagine it would smell like). Soil. Wet stone.

Palate – Honeycomb cereal. Serrano pepper flavor but not all of the spiciness, this has more of a mint driven heat. I really didn’t pick up on the mouthfeel until the middle (it coats nice and has a soft, medium viscosity to it). A very “cowboy finish” of long cut chewing tobacco and saddle leather. I really enjoy this Tepeztate!