Casamigos Mezcal Joven

For the price and quality I didn’t get very impressed from this product. Is quite blank, especially if you taste few mezcals and then pass to this, it just doesn’t give much to the palate, in my opinion this product just misses character.

Bit sour at the end, not a huge fan.

Rating: 14/23 N: It smells like mezcal for sure, though a bit lighter and less complex than Los Vecinos Espadin. It does smell good though. I get some sourdough bread with a bit of olive brine, rosemary, something slightly rotton, a faint hint of mineral. Yeah, it's mostly sourdough bread though. P: There's more going on on the palate than I'd expected from the nose. It's smoky with a clean gasoline flavor rather than tasting like a tire fire, but that brunt of that quickly passes, letting in a whiff of vanilla and some subtle banana that balance nicely with the slightly spicy herbal flavor that makes me think somewhat of rosemary. I do get some of that sourdough flavor in here as well, with a hint of rosemary and light olive brine, which is nice. There's some tanginess that makes me think of pineapple and I also get this dusty, earthy quality to the spiciness. There's this flavor like chicken breast that was seasoned with a fair amount of salt and just a bit of pepper, then was barbecued until it was a bit dry and charred. Not my favorite mezcal palate, but quite a nice one. F: Smoke with a clean gasoline flavor, a little bit of spiciness from the rosemary, along with some of that dry earthiness, and a little bit of tropical fruity sweetness. that occasionally reminds me of vanilla. There's a waft of sourdough starter as well. This is a solid, representative mezcal. It nails the core of the typical mezcal profile with smoke, gasoline, herbs, meat, and some sweetness with a little fruit, but it doesn't go too far with it. The clarity of the fresh sourdough flavor is really the stand-out here. I also appreciate that it embraces its (relative) lightness; much like Patrón, Ancient Age, and Glen Grant, this makes no attempt to pretend that it is stronger than it is, avoiding clashing flavors and establishing a refreshing profile that tastes intentional. This would be a good mezcal to introduce a beginner to the genre and it's one I'd be happy to sip. This is less strong and aggressive than Los Vecinos Espadin is. Los Vecinos has a bit more complexity, but although this initially seems a bit one-note, the spices opening up on the palate is terrific. This pleasantly reminds me of Cabeza Blanco (which is practically impossible to find for some reason), with its spices, boldness (for a tequila), and tropical fruits. It isn't really a normal comparison, but I prefer Cabeza between the two because of its nice complexity and how it pushes the envelope for its category. Fans of Cabeza who have not yet tried mezcal would find this an easy transition. For the money, it's an OK value, though I think I'd go for Los Vecinos Espadin instead, especially given that it is also cheaper. You won't go too far wrong with this though. I'm thinking a 12 to 14, but it could be a 15. Most likely, a 13 or 14. Right now, I'm leaning toward a 14. Los Vecinos is probably 1 to 2 points better than this. I gave Los Vecinos a high 15, so some sort of 14 does make a lot of sense for this. I'm a bit surprised by this outcome though because I expected Los Vecinos to end up closer to Del Maguey Chichicapa (17). I guess that's just rounding for you. I enjoy this well enough. Actually, I enjoy it pretty well. For the money though, I have other mezcals that I prefer to this.