El Jolgorio Tepeztate Mezcal

This smells super vegetal, like rotting squash, lettuce, and corn. It's an interestingly organic scent, but is isn't a terribly good one. At least it smells a bit sweet. Ugh, the palate tastes like rotting vegetables with mint and smoke! The squash is way too present. Even for a mezcal, this is pretty hard to palate. There's a lot of umami, but it doesn't make me like this drink. There are hints of floral and sweetness with vague references to honey coming out of the sweetness. It's interesting in this way that suggests it is well executed but does not make me enjoy it. It's sort of liking one of those artistic movies. There's a little bit of lamb and pork in here too. Even though it's interesting, I frankly don't like it. It in no way shocks me that people like it, but it seems like it's trying way too hard. This is a real challenge to drink. It executes whatever it's trying to do really well, but I don't really like what it's aiming for. This is like the hippie liberal salt of the earth mezcal. Yeah, it tastes natural, but how good does it taste? The flavors are all distinct and do a good job of tasting like what they are, but they don't make me really happy to taste them - they just taste interesting. Some alcohol does come out (reasonably for this ABV) and that keeps me from giving this the bump to 13 for its originality. It's a 12 for not tasting all that great. Maybe the 25 year old agave gives it a really unique flavor? Actually, as I take that last sip, the complexity comes out with a mix of fruits and vegetables moving in and out. OK, you can have that bump to 13, but I'm not prepared to go above that based on what I tasted.

Edition: 16, Harvest: 2017, 48%ABV Rafael Mendez Cruz The old gnarly tepeztate...Aromas of bubblegum, a bit earthy (bails of hay or dry leaves), VERY “green” of the likes of bell peppers, grilled asparagus, and poblano peppers. Some mango-like tropical notes are evident as well as some green herbal and floral notes. Lots going on here but it’s very harmonious. Taste is loaded with bright green bell pepper and poblano peppers, very spicy, grassy, more green herbs, vanilla/cinnamon, just a touch of mint, and finishes with a nice earthy smokiness with that chili pepper spiciness still tingling on the tongue. Awesome Tepeztate! I also have a bottle of the Edition 15/2016 from Ignacio Parada that I’m eager to compare to this one. If it’s anything like this, it’s worth the money. If you dig earthy, green vegetal, herbal, spicy mezales, this one is for you. It tastes like it's age.

Intense saltiness and smoke, not much fruit and not my favorite of El Jolgorio but still very good. 93

Nice, fruity nose, melon, citrus, medium smoke, complex flavors, medium spice, medium palate

Earthy, mint nose, leather, light smoke taste

Smokey finish, bit strong at the beginning