Bottled in 2014 As the weather starts getting cold and shitty, my wife and I usually start planning our yearly getaway to Mexico. Not this year; thanks to COVID. The best we can do is set the Nest to 85 degrees, blast some Tito Puente on Amazon music, and sip on some tasty mezcal - my favorite whisky alternative. Del Maguey Iberico is the 2nd bottle of mezcal I have opened. At $200+ dollars, it was go big or go home. Since this, I have opened about another 7 or 8 bottles (different ones, of course), and none of them are nearly as pricey, or nearly as good. The concept of this spirit just boggles my mind: it starts out like a typical double distilled 100% mezcal espadin; then they combine it with a separate distillate from various wild fruits, almonds, and white rice; and then they distill the combination, which is now considered flavored mezcal, a third time in a still that has a chunk of iberico ham hanging in the atmosphere. The resulting mezcal is one of the most amazingly delicious and complicated liquids that I have ever sipped. This is a tropical fruity explosion somehow enhanced by acetone. There’s pineapple, blueberries, plaintains, and yes, the sweet nutty haminess of iberico! The balance and complexity on the palate is incredible: there’s a mellow sweet savoriness with a full complement of herbs and spices, tartness from apple vinaigrette, and bitterness from orange peels, ending beautifully and exotically with saladitos and bitter melon. When I first had this mezcal, my eyes tried to pop out of my head. Now, when I am having this, I merely close my eyes and let them roll back into my head in pleasure. Whiskies that have done the same for me include WhistlePig The Boss Hog IV The Black Prince, Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1, and Springbank Local Barley 16 year old, to give my whisky afficionados an idea of the quality this mezcal brings. I just wish the imagination and creativity with truly treasured ingredients could be brought into the world of whisky. Score: *** (I am not worthy) How much does a bottle cost?: $200-240 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $500