Del Maguey Tobalá Mezcal

Rating: 16/23 I tried this early on in my spirits adventures and I hated it. Time to give it another chance. N: Super earthy. Lot of dust from the trail, leading into some occasional sweet, watery herbal notes - like pieces of cactus - and also a little bit of something more herbal (but faint) leading into the restrained smoke. There's a dash of spices - like turmeric with a hint of cinnamon. P: The palate is a lot tarter than I'd expected with a big spiciness and also a lot of mint. There's some dustiness and smoke, but most of what hits me is lemon, a little vinegar, spice, and mint. The mint grows in comparison to the tartness and sort of a little malty sweetness with river water starts coming in. F: The mintiness, smokiness, river water sweetness, and a little tartness remain. It's a bold finish for sure. Some faint vegetal and herbal elements sneak in too. - Continued - This is super challenging. It really doesn't cohere well and it emphasized what are normally accent notes as core flavors. It's interesting, but I like it. Del Maguey Chichicapa is more generally appealing, whereas this is an intriguing challenge. I don't really think I'd like to have a bottle of this, which to me is a serious mark against it. This is tough. I'm considering anything in the 15 to 18 range here. This is certainly no Del Maguey Arroqueno. I like the Chichicapa better too, but not by a big margin. This is very different from Los Vecinos Espadin, but I think the quality is similar, so I'm going with a 16.

Third mezcal in a Del Maguey tasting. Nose: more muted than the others, farmyard, vegetal, touch of smoke too? Taste: Sweet oily arrival that turns dry, vegetal, spicy, peppery. Overall, it’s interesting and best of the night. But I would not seek out a bottle or another drink at a bar. I don’t think mezcal is my thing, which is fine – the whiskey rabbit hole is deep enough.

トップノートはなんとも表現の難しい有機的な香り 口に含むと蜜のような甘味、辛味苦味は控えめ 余韻にスモーク

Richer and smokier than the espadin especial, but still tastes medicinal due to the citrus and menthol. Varies from start to finish and the finish isn't bad, but I don't love it. Has an overpowering brine taste.

Again lots going on. Nice finish. Hard to describe. Sorry! Not as good as the Chichicapa.

On the nose: stone, barrel char, wet sand, sweet pepper. Palette starts with smoke, ends with sweet earth. Lots of fruit throughout. Oak. Absolutely delicious as always