Rey Campero Espadín Mezcal

Nice and balanced. Bright and fruity, moreso than smoky. Tart and bitter grapefruit peel, lime juice, saccharine minerality, salt. Quite nice.

Comparable to del maguey mid level espadin expression

From the nose I’m getting charcoal, pineapple, agave, ash, bell pepper, earth, vanilla cake, smoke and grapefruit. Smooth and lightly peppery on the palate, with grapefruit, orange, lime, charcoal, pineapple, smoke and agave. Solid stuff.

Tried neat from my flaviar tasting box. On the nares I get peppers and smoke. On the palate it’s smooth and light with notes of fruit and lime and finish ok smoke and chili. Delicious

Thin body, clear as water. Tons of info on the bottle. Candelaria Yegolé village, copper still, 2 distillations with a handwritten lot D5030-E (1675 of 3945 bottles), handwritten date of Dec 2019 and appears to be hand signed by the Maestro Mescalero Rómulo Sánchez Parada. Salt for days, agave, clay, aloeswood, lime, passion fruit, leather, gravel, gasoline. Up front a burst of ash and smoke hit the palate (like a grill that isn’t been scraped in a good long while). As the char subsides a substantial amount of agave sweetness and coconut water emerge alongside toasted cedar, jalapeño, and mineral note with a dash of “freshly opened can of tennis balls.” Interesting. This has a nice balance - no one note crushes the other. There is little to no burn going down but a swell of warmth afterword. The finish goes back and forth between tar, leather and earthy, toasted agave sugars. The lime and a bit of grilled bell pepper pop back in to play a supporting role. This is less vegetal, less tar laden and generally more approachable than Del Maguey Chichicapa. That said I don’t find it to be less interesting or less complex, maybe just the opposite. Furthermore it’s roughly half the price at $45. I can see myself pouting this again and again then replacing the bottle once it’s gone. I’m gonna prematurely dub this the Talisker of Mezcals.