cascode
Del Maguey Arroqueño Mezcal
Mezcal Joven — Oaxaca, Mexico
Reviewed
January 22, 2020 (edited December 3, 2021)
Nose: Warm, full, inviting, malty (!?!). Lord, is this really mezcal? There are flashes of Ardbeg in this!!! Deep herbal tones and a rich melange of fruit and smoke. This is, without exception, the best nose I've ever encountered on a mezcal. Smoked asparagus of the highest order, fragrant vegetal aromas, elusive citrus notes and fleeting sooty smoke. It is ... divine.
Palate: Warm, rich, rounded, complex, minty, slightly astringent, herbal, asparagus and finally sweet. That's just the arrival - and it's monumental. The palate develops sweet melon and fruity notes, but it's like fruit salad in rose-petal and frankincense infused syrup. This is not common fresh fruit. Chocolate and very subtle smoke notes appear as well. The texture is - absent - in the best way. You hardly notice you have liquid in your mouth.
Finish: Short. Suave, sweet and genteel with not a single off note. A blissful and entirely satisfying finale.
Stunning. This is quite simply the best mezcal I've tasted, bar none. It is the benchmark against which all mezcal should be judged. The official tasting notes here are a bit ... odd ... but I can't disagree with the score.
My profound thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine via way of @Soba45 for the rare opportunity to taste this. I am envious of your prices and availability in the US. We had no allocation here, and even if we had it would have been three times the price.
"Outstanding" : 90/100 (5 stars)
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Nice review! Yes definitely my favourite so far. The Chichicapa gives it a good run for its money as well I thought but then it was my first mezcal and so was probably going to be impactful it just being a decent mezcal!
@Rick_M @cascode. I think the 500 bottles is b/c of conservation. The Arroqueno takes 15-20 years ( I think ?) to mature. And to top it off, it’s wild...so it’s open to all types of insects and disease. They limit how much to chop down every year...thankfully
Classic review! They only produce 500 bottles of this style per year. I bought 2 bottles from Old Town Tequila in CA when it was $95 a bottle. They still have some at $119 per. Interestingly, once opened, the smoke on the Chichicapa oxidized completely in about 6-9 months making for a totally different experience. Not necessarily better, but still excellent.
Best mezcal I’ve had. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but yeah—-it can be mistaken for Ardbeg! I love my neighbors to the south for two things: mezcal and avocados.