Nose – Rock candy. Cotton candy jelly bean. Dusty on the back end of the nose.

Palate – Jasmine flower. Whipped scrambled eggs. Cojita cheese. Anise. Quite a dry and floral finish. Extremely long aftertaste of perfumed bath salts and lingering green peppercorn.

Nose – Rich roasted agave – very nice. Lemon drop (candy) citrus.

Palate – Lemon filling in a meringue pie. Incredibly smooth for 49.2% ABV – big flavors with little heat. Hickory (wood flavor and smoke) on the finish. Aftertaste is long, warm and tasty. This might be my favorite arroqueno ever but I only had a 1 oz sample.

Nose – Pinot Noir wine. Black licorice.

Palate – See the nose but sour red wine. Roobios tea bag. Anise. I love tobala but I’m not picking up any of the usual suspects here.

Batch: FLA-ENS-001
Nose – Brand new rubber basketball. Paint primer. Baby carrots. Watermelon water.

Palate – Weak floral flavors / watery even for 44% ABV. Flower stems and roots. Rubber. Cigarette smoke. This one ain’t for me.

Lote: 18-ES2 Bottle: 170
Nose – Vibrant, clean & tropical.

Palate – Good initial almost-medium viscosity. Early vanilla and then the sweet notes all but disappear. Hard cooked egg yolk. Dried (crunchy) chow mein noodles. It get’s grassy toward the end and the smoke gets a tad rough. Over-salted celery stick aftertaste with the lingering smoke.

Overall this is OK but I found the nose far exceeded the palate.

Nose – Big, fresh grassiness like you’ve taken a weed wacker to an overgrown lawn a foot high (OK, so you really let the chores go).

Palate – Initial sweetness like letting a few sugar crystals melt on your tongue. Grilled and charred poblano peppers. Aftershave gel. Campfire ash. A very, very rich Tepeztate (after about 2 oz in one sitting I could see if being a bit too much).

Nose – A mix of strawberry and grape flavored Nerds candy.

Palate – Tropical fruit jelly beans. A very light sour cream note. Parmesan cheese rind. Very crisp and delicious smoke.

Only a 1 oz. sample – really could dive deeper with more.

Lote: F-11
Nose – Key lime pie. The nose is invigorating – like chewing some peppermint breath mints with a mask on (hat tip to COVID protocols for that experience… whomp, whommmmmp).

Palate – Forest soil. Celery stalk (and some of the leafy bitterness). A hearty sweetness like oatmeal with sprinkled with brown sugar. Pine wood smokiness. Spicy finish (a heat that punches slightly above the 46% ABV) which carries on into the aftertaste.

Nose – Spiced apple. Ginger rock candy.

Palate – A kick-start spiciness (minty heat with short lasting serrano punch) from the Tepeztate. Fruit cocktail syrup sweetness. Greenspoint’s perceptive mention of sunflower seeds really comes out in the finish for me – it’s like a chewing on smoked and seasoned Spitz and adding just a touch of cayenne pepper.

This one ounce sample wasn’t enough for me – I may have to hit up Tahona Mercado for a whole bottle. 🙂

LOTE: MAD0101AR-01/18
Nose – Dried bay leaf. Tobacco leaf. Potpourri.

Palate – Pink candy popcorn! A flavor that was has been dormant since 1986 – but there it is (Lucky Elephant on the box). Orchid flower. Salted butter. A floral/perfumed smokiness. A dry, nutty aftertaste but a bitterness that reminds me of getting the inner, dried skin in a walnut (doing a quick internet search apparently that part is the “endocarp” – that’s right folks tune in for the mezcal reviews… stay for the nut anatomy trivia).

Nose – Icing sugar. A slight, house white wine note. Raw artichoke.

Palate – Sugary sweet at first then a big floral blast – taken back a bit by the abruptness. After a few sips it smoothes out. Campfire, bbq’d pineapple. Hat tip to Zeepuzzler who noted red licorice, getting a solid Twizzlers flavor…spot on. Love the smoke on the back nine and the sweet, white wine influence as well (sorry, not a wine guy… can’t drill deeper than that). Pretty good Tobala!

Nose – Rich, cooked agave. Juicy, orange slices.

Palate – Mouth feel is pretty slick (coats well). Banana cream pie. More orange citrus. Big tobacco smoke on the finish and hot – not too hot but almost. Saltine cracker note and minerality in the aftertaste.

Overall – An enjoyable, well crafted espadin.

Batch: YJ 14-16
Nose – Red roses. Light cream cheese. A sprinkle of white pepper.

Palate – Big notes of smoky vanilla. A bit of plain cheesecake. Smoke and heat are dialed up some in the finish but they’re nice. Flavors overall are great but the mouth feel is noticeably thin.

LOTE: ESP0303AN-02/18
Nose – A big hit of funky clay. Plantains.

Palate – White chicken gravy you’d put on fresh biscuits, topped generously with white pepper. Wood-fire grilled nopal (cactus). The mouth feel is awesome, medium+ viscosity and really does a lot to spread the heat and flavors out. In the finish getting huevos, cojita cheese and corn tortilla. A straight forward smoky and meaty mezcal which is right up my alley.

Lote#: 47 Bottle: 537/660
Nose – Fresh squeezed lemon. Watermelon Jolly Rancher.

Palate – Mediun viscosity. Lime wine gum candy. Oak smoked chicken breast, kosher salt and white pepper. Asiago cheese and oak in the finish and aftertaste. This is an awesome savory mezcal.

Nose – Magic marker. Sundried cherry.

Palate – Thin mouthfeel. Smoky, warm dark cherry sauce. Dark chocolate. A sprinkle of shaved parmesan. Marlboro tobacco finish and ethanol aftertaste.

Nose – Crusty icing sugar that’s drizzled onto a scone. Cream cheese tart with fresh kiwi. Not a hint of smoke.

Palate – Banana jellybean. Smarties Halloween candy sweet/chalky aspect but not at all tart. Big, firey smoke, latex, cardomom pods and peppermint in the finish. Pina Colada, banana cream pie and orchid stems in the aftertaste.

The complexity and potential is there but it didn’t come together for me.

Batch: CAR-CHO-001 Bottle: 805
Nose – Fresh cooked agave. Felt pen. Dark cherry pits.

Palate – Mouthfeel is a touch gritty. A grassy bitterness. Orange rind. Chicken salt. Too much ethanol heat in the finish. A touch of bread dough in the aftertaste.

Pretty comme ca. 2.5 stars for now but I’ll come back in a few weeks to give it another go.

Batch#: GRE-ENS-001 Bottle#: 817
Nose – Unsurprisingly it smells like legit puntas and you won’t hear any belly-aching from me! Floral sweetness in the vapory goodness. A bit of licorice. Some dark chocolate.

Palate – Like in puntas fashion a big burst of heat and flavor followed by an evaporative effect leaving said flavor more concentrated on the tongue. It’s an awesome effect which is what I love about puntas – you’re getting the essence or “puro” of the batch. Milk chocolate. Turkish delight. Finish is floral and dry. For 61.3% I don’t think it’s too hot but I love puntas. I really like sipping this but have it in measured 1 oz. portions so I don’t get into trouble.

LOTE#: F-15
Nose – Fruit Punch & Sprite Soda. Slightly lactic. Steak tartar. Thanksgiving holiday spices.

Palate – Great medium viscosity. Definitely papaya. Pine wood. Smoked and salted white-tail deer jerky. Slight burnt bacon fat on the finish. I like the fruitiness/spiciness/meatiness balance on this although the finish falls a bit flat and is quite salty. I really like the Agave cupreata pechuga versus the normal espadin – it’s a solid change up.