Del Maguey Arroqueño Mezcal

Smoky salt and pepper and roasted corn flavors. Earthy undertones. Earthier and a little bit more bite than the wild jubali variation

N: Light smoke, tropical fruit, caramel, tropical flowers, yellow cake with vanilla frosting. P: Smooth, sweet, tropical fruit, rich and round caramel infused with cooked fruit, honey drizzled pear, wild floral honey. F: Smoked fruit, tobacco, earth, dried flowers, sour stone fruit, throat warming heat. Absolutely brilliant. Complex, different at each stage, but completely complimentary. I'm not sure what else to ask for in a mezcal, or any other drink for that matter. One of the tastiest straight sipping drinks I've tried. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

Very tasty with the different fruit notes and slight smoke, nice taler on the finish with the flavor

Tremendous mezcal. Beautiful flavor, not overly smoky (personally I would have liked a little more), goes down very smoothly. Knocked it a quarter star because I slightly prefer the Del Maguey Chichicapa and it’s half the price and much easier to find.

On the nose, bell pepper, plantain, pear, a little smoke. The palate has pear, pineapple (not sure why so many P-words), and smoked veggies. This is a little more sour/fruity than Iberico. As with Iberico, the smoke comes across as light. Overall, I think Iberico is more interesting and this one more approachable. While I typically prefer interesting to approachable, I enjoy drinking this one more. I still think this would be a mood-dependent drink for me, but again I appreciate it as a well-made spirit. For whatever reason, mezcal doesn't seem to suit my palate in its current iteration, but I imagine I'll revisit again in the future. Once again, I'm really grateful to have received this sample from @pkingmartin.

The nose starts with a bouquet of flowers followed by a smoke similar to a fire sitting by the ocean then comes fruits of cantaloupe, lychee, and sautéed cherries then earthy notes of dark chocolate, shiitake mushrooms, and olive oil coated grilled asparagus with a squeeze of lime on top with light ethanol burn. The taste is a medium almost airy mouthfeel that starts with a light lime along with floral notes like walking through a meadow of wild flowers followed by smoked sea salt then comes fruits of cantaloupe, orange, lychee, and black cherries then earthy notes of spicy dark chocolate, black pepper, shiitake mushrooms, and olive oil coated grilled asparagus with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with Sichuan pepper, light minerality, cantaloupe, fried yucca root, ocean brine, dark chocolate, lychee fruit, and moderate smoke. This is simply stunning with a perfect balance on the nose and palate of smoke, floral, brine, citrus and earthy notes that seems almost cloud like textured with a wonderful medium length finish. I can’t find a single fault with this mezcal and simply drink it, close my eyes and marvel at how a new make spirit can be so perfectly balanced and complex. There are spirits out there that cost thousands that can’t compare to this and if you’re a mezcal fan, this is an absolute bucket list one to try. A huge thanks to @ctbeck11 for my own bottle of this to dive into and explore. I’m going to need to find a backup or two of this as I wish to never be without it in my liquor cabinet.