Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal

Chemical, Spicy and Sweet This smells like black smoke and agave. On first sip you'll taste a pepper spice. That quickly fades into black smoke, and chemical tastes of plastic, tar and gun powder. There is a vegetal sweetness in there, but its underlying and gets overpowered by the chemical taste. I don't like this, and I don't think its worth the $75 price tag. Perhaps people like it because it is so unique. I honestly have no idea how they got this to taste like tar, but I don't like it. If you can get past the tar, there are some interesting sweet flavors in there, but I can't pick them out.

The nose bursts with Smokey goodness! Charred citrus fruits, cherry pipe tobacco and sweet grilled apples. Think churning apple butter and a dollop drops into the fire! The palate follows the nose with charred lemons and stone fruits. The sweet apple turns to tart Granny Smith. A hint of mint and anise also show up. The finish is long, salty and peppery. The mint and anise rise to the occasion on the long finish. The finish is warming from the stomach to the throat and let’s you know you have just experienced a high quality spirit!

Rating: 17/23 N: vegetal, herbal, a hint minty, kind of smoky. Milder with more of a watery character than I'd remembered. A little bit of a bitter rubber scent. Something faintly vinegary, like dijon mustard, perhaps. Not a ton of that though. This is a strong nose, but I like it. P: Big smoke with rubber and something kind of lemony and woody, making me think a bit of limousin oak. There's a little bit of a fresh water character, but the flavor here is still full. The limousin oak turns a bit vegetal and then sharply herbal and spicy as tannic side of the oak hits and the smoke comes back. There's a little sweetness in here, but not much. The complexity here could be better, but the overall balance and flavor are really nice. F: Super smoky with tar and some sort of candied lemon clinging to some muddled limousin oak. It's a totally fine finish that upholds the strength of the nose and palate. Something on the herbal side of vegetal comes out on the long finish, bringing in some sweetness. - Conclusion - This is a great mezcal. I wish it were more complex, but it's still really tasty. I would put it ahead of Los Vecinos Espadin, but not by a huge margin. This is going to be a 17. I can imagine words in which I go up or down a tad from there, but I'm pretty set on 17.

Second mezcal in a Del Maguey tasting. Nose: ashy, clay, new make, farmyard Taste: peppery, more spicy than the Vida, oily and sharp. No better than the Vida and I’m not on an upward trajectory in this tasting it appears.

Tasted neat from a glencairn. The pour was allowed to rest for a while after the pour. This is from a fresh bottle as I begin to explore mezcals. This is a liquor with which I've had little experience and I don't understand why I waited. The combination of vegetal and phenol elements hooked me. I sense this could get expensive... This is the fourth mezcal I've tried and is easily the best so far. The aromas from the glass are complex and delightful. I get fresh grapefruit, mint, cactus, cut grass, plastic (think cheap rain poncho), ethanol and oil smoke. It's both an assault on the senses and an Alice-in-Wonderland experience and I'm enjoying the ride. Mouthfeel is rich and creamy. The palate is lush with sweet syrup, smoky ash, agave, lemons, ruby grapefruit, green bell pepper, black pepper and a touch of capsacin. The finish has a lovely fade, leaving a sweet film on the lips and a gentle warming in the throat. I find this to be an easy drinking expression of what has to be one of the more polarizing liquors. I can easily see how mezcal can be a love it or hate it thing. I can't get away from the echoes of Islay. I like the category and I really like this expression. It's bracing, refreshing, relaxed and challenging all at once. My ratings 1 = simply horrible and 5 = a perfect expression with the bell curve predicting most average liquors will land between 2 and 3. 4 stars and above represent the very best of what I've had and easily land on my "buy again" list. This Del Maguey Chichicapa expression belongs near the top.