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.