Mezcal Unión Uno

I've been seeing a lot of hype around this beast (and I have to admit: the branding is on-point), but not a lot of substantive tasting notes. So, some thoughts: smell is clean, mineral, slightly earthy (is "clean earthiness" oxymoronic?), with a light vegetal smoke. Pepper, with some fruit--oranges, citrus, prickly pear--and almost some crisp vegetables. Faint cucumber and a clean sort-of jalapeno pepper flesh character. Taste starts sweet, with the heat growing to a kind of (again, jalapeno-like) spice, with a backbone of citrus zest, earth notes, and light, almost peat-reaky smoke. Pepper, slight char, grilled pineapple. Slight salinity. Earth and char on the finish, pepper pith. Again, take this with a grain of salt, as I'm a relative mezcal novice, but--for the price, which is amongst the lowest I've ever found for a true mezcal--this juice is genuinely tasty. I could sip this all day (the caveat, of course, being that even the producer reports variation of flavours between batches).

If you have ever been to Oaxaca, Mexico before you might know that it is a struggling state with low infrastructure and education, especially in the interior of the state outside of the capital. With the rise of Mezcal agaves are being farmed at an increasing rate with a growing threat of over production and a possible agave shortage in the future. Union Mezcal answers this problem by uniting dozens of families throughout Mexico to create a fair and sustainable way of producing Mezcal. Mezcal Union Uno is a ensamble of farm-grown Espadin agave and wild Cirial. The Espadin gives a sweetness and floral note the Mezcal while the Cirial compliments it with a subtle earthiness. The smoke doesn't overwhelm the taste of the agave and is more of a nice campfire smoke.

A watery beginning, that turns into some lime peel, mango rind, some slight dashes of raw vanilla. Later evolves into medium woody smoke, some white pepper, less than moderate but still noticeable minerality especially near the finish. The finish is medium length with smoke, mineral and a slightly leathery ending note. nice ensemble for the price, I’d chose this over 400 conejos any day.

This is a very good mezcal with traditional mezcal notes. It has a robust construction with the expected smoky and citrus notes, all working together well and make this an ideal mezcal for people a bit intimidated by this spirit

Sampled this one neat recently at La Velvet Margarita in Hollywood and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also tried the Xicaru later that evening but personally thought that one slightly less complex. This one would be worth a purchase

Uno has an expected clear appearance, with uniform alcohol legs. The aroma is of mild smoke and bell pepper. Taste is of those elements, with possible pear. The body is light to medium, and Uno finishes medium long. RJT