Tastes

Super smooth. Still had a hint of agave. Really full too.

Big barrel on the nose but less pronounced on the palate. Still good, but I feel like the lovely nuance of the blanco and reposado has been lost.

The barrel aging adds a very subtle hint of vanilla. Other than that, it retains a good amount of the character of the blanco base, including that slight pepper tang, though it’s softer and more bell pepper-like. I like it slightly more though, as the barrel softens some of the sharper edges of the blanco.

Strong pepper note, approaching jalapeño almost. It merges with the agave sweetness better on the nose than on the palate, but both are good experiences.

For my first bottle of mezcal, I don’t know if I could have chosen much better. This gets across the smokiness I want for mixing without being intolerable for sipping and in fact is quite good on its own.

It’s got more flavor than blancos many times its price, which is probably due to its traditional manufacturing methods. That being said, it’s more of a mixer than a sipper. There isn’t a ton of body and heft, more top notes and such.