u/el_guero_grande

Mezcalero: Simeon Ramirez
Agave: karwinskii sub species
Locale: San Agustín Amatengo, Oaxaca
Date: July 2022
Mill: machete and mechanical mill
Ferment: 8 days in cypress
Distillation: clay pot y refrescadera
Batch: 100L
ABV: 50.2

This is one of those that remind you why agave spirits are the best spirits

Nose: deciduous, pine resin, maybe spruce, some sea breeze, whole tellicherry peppercorns, neoprene?, the faintest wisp of smoke, roasted agave

Palate: complex, lovely heat, sweet fig, cooked agave, butterscotch, pesticidal, dark skinned stone fruit, earthy, wet moss

Finish: cinnamon, salty marigold, numbing and dry

Rating: 7.7/10

This mezcal was procured by a friend prior to a recent trip I made to Oaxaca where I picked it up, and to him, I am very grateful. Signed, the bottle shares in handwriting that it is 49 percent, and the ensemble is as described below.

Mezcalero: Shonga
Locale: Santa Catarina Minas
Oven: conical, stone
Distillation: twice, clay pot
Agave: arroqueño, tepextate and jabali
Milled: by hand
Batch size: not known
ABV: per Shonga 49 but it has been measured higher :-)

Nose: floral, white pepper,

Palate: sweet, floral like a bouquet of flowers in the south, complex, minerality, earthy, slightly salty. some milk chocolate, steamed bok choy

Finish: soapy rocks but palatable, coating, lingering, some cinnamon

Rating: 8/10

This is my first ever review. I have lurked around quite awhile and really enjoy the posts others make sharing their experiences with the full range of agave distillates, but havent previously posted. I have traveled several times to Oaxaca City and many times to CDMX and bring back mezcal whenever possible, almost always stuff we cant get here in the US and currently have a collection (well) more than 100 bottles of the good stuff - mezcales, raicillas, sotoles, etc. I am in no way an expert but I love to learn. Oddly, my first “mezcal” review is not even an actual scientific agave, but here goes:

Review #1: Cuish - Penca Larga

Mezcalero: Hermogenes Vasquez
Locale: Logoche, San Luis Amatlan, Miahuatlan, Oaxaca
Oven: conical, stone
Distillation: twice, in copper alambique
Agave: penca larga - in this case, this is not distilled from agave but rather, a fucreae plant that looks like an agave
Milled: mechanical shredder
Batch: 150L
ABV: 48

Nose: peppercorns, cotton candy

Palate: immediately bright green, asparagus, leafy, some spinach. some summer squash,
at the same time very sweet, like a slightly medicinal candy in a great way. slightly numbing like benzocaine. cinnamon. delicious.

Finish: lingers, oily, some spice, pepper and coriander, grape robitussin

Rating: 8.5/10