I’m coming back tomorrow, what should I try?

Upper limit is $145, arbitrarily set to that because I've been thinking of getting the Yuku Savi mexicanito. I've had everything on the lower shelf except the last 4 on the right. I'm partial to mexicano, Jabali, coyote, bacanora and lechugilla but open to anything highly recommended. What do y'all think?​

I’ve been on the hunt lately for some more rare stuff, winning some auctions and just normal digging. Not that the current collection is super rare but there’s a good mix. One of the latest being an Astor Wines exclusive from Cuish - Jabali, Madrecuishe. Also won the original lote of the Mal Bien Papalote capón, which I like a lot more than the current release of it.

Mexico’s Denomination of Origin (DOM) protects the name “mezcal” and recognizes specific regions where it can be produced.

However, not every municipality within these states qualifies, and some territorial expansions have faced legal challenges.
To legally use the name, producers must operate within authorized areas and follow Mexico’s official mezcal production standards.

Next time you enjoy mezcal, check the label and discover where your spirit comes from!

I don’t know how many baseball followers there are in the sub, but I am thoroughly enjoying tonight‘s game.

In the South Bay area of LA for a few days and popped into Whole Foods to see what their mezcal selection looked like. Not exactly an embarrassment of riches, but I've certainly seen worse.

Anyone local know of any decent mezcal bars? Ideally somewhere with a good selection of smaller producers and a chance to try a few interesting expressions rather than the usual commercial offerings.

South Bay would be ideal, but happy to head further into LA if it's worth it.

Featuring pours from NETA and Cinco Sentidos, plus complimentary bites.

Reservations and more info here.

If you were choosing three bottles on this shelf, what would you pick? I'm pretty new to Mexcal, so I've only tried the Rey Campero. I found the acetone a little high in Rey, though I do still really enjoy that bottle. Thanks in advance.

When Ever López sent me a FB-friend request last year, I accepted
it without knowing much about him. My interest in mezcal results in a lot of those,
and if the person seems to be authentically engaged in the world of mezcal, I
usually friend them. I checked out his page, saw some agaves, gave him a wave
and a thumbs up; that was about it. But when his Sierra Negra mezcal arrived as
part of my Maguey Melate subscription in June 2024 and it was outstanding, I
took more notice. Enough that I contacted Edgar Leon from Maguey Melate and arranged to pay Ever a visit at his place in S.C. Albarradas.

So glad we did. The drive is long and winding with a good length of dirt track
involved, but the views are stunning as you drive through the pine forests and
wild agave strewn hills of the Sierra Norte.  Ever greeted us at his palenque and had kindly
timed his day so we could participate in the loading of the horno, la tapada..
We watched as they blessed the agaves by chanting a prayer while slapping each
with a tree branch, which was then thrown into the horno  to be consumed and get rid of bad luck.  After loading the oven, they then covered the agaves in fresh green brush prior to covering in dirt. Both of these acts were firsts in my experience with mezcal; there is always something new to learn.

Wesampled some excellent clay pot mezcals and were treated to a great lunch of
chili rellenos at his family’s house.  His mom and wife and other family members prepared the feast, and we were joined by his palenque team (Father in law, cousin, and friends) in consuming it.

Afterwards, we returned to the palenque to drink some beers we’d brought, have
a few more copits,and look at his setup.   He has some unique processes that are demanded by his environment.  His fermentation is done in cement tinas that are sunken in the ground; this to give them some insulation from the cold winter nights that can stop a fermentation. And the tanks are stained black, due to his use of tepahuaje tree bark. Known as the “skin tree” and touted for
medicinal purposes and wound care, the bark from this mimosa plant also has high
enzyme and nitrogen levels. These assist in stimulating yeast to keep fermenting when temperatures are lower.  Othersin S.C. Albarradas )including Ever’s neighbors and well-nown Cinco  Sentidos  mezcaleros Alberto Martinez and Reynaldo Alejandro)similarly use this technique.  Ever handcrushes in a cement canoa and distills in clay pots.

This trip turned out to be a low yield experience. While we’d planned on visiting Alberto Martinez too, things went awry and he was unavailable to us, so we only visited the one palenque. And our timing was bad in that Ever only had two mezcals available for sale; he’d run out of the coveted Sierra Negra. But despite that, it remains one of my favorite visits. Being immersed in a full day with his lovely family, being made a part of the tapada de horno, and the lunch celebration made it a memorable day.   We bought several liters of the mezcals that were available.  Ever
quoted me what I thought was a ridiculous price, and after some insistence we settle on paying twice what he asked for it. 

So if you’re looking to maximize a day of tasting and touring, or a chance to try a lot of agaves in a short span of time, S.C. Albarradas may not be tyourright choice. But if you’re looking for a beautiful drive to a kind community that also harbors a small number of excellent mezcaleros makng claypot and cowhide mezcals of the local Sierra Negra, Jabali, and wild espadins you might want to pay a visit.  (Ever has begun working with cowhide fermentation since the day when I made this visit.)

We tried:
Espadin Silvestri 52@
Espadin Capon 50%
Sierra Negra. 49%.

Tobala50%

Pictures:
Ever
The road to Albarradas
Horno loading
Greens covering the agave

Stained cement tina
Claypots with a view
Canoa and mallets

Hey all - as I have been on this spirit journey, I have a fair amount of Tequilas and it is pretty apparent the different profiles between the locations. Does Mezcal follow the similar profiles of fruity/sweet for highland and vegetal/peppery for lowland?

I know there are a lot of forward tasting honey or smokey mezcals. I'm looking to taste both or even a caramel tasting, smokey one would be great.

Thank you :)

Has anyone tried this ?

I am 18 months into broadening my experience with different Mezcals and Raicillas, I'm from the UK, just a working class guy who works in construction, I wish to plan a trip next year to deep dive into the knowledge, history's and traditions of creating and distilling the former by having an extended trip to Mexico, firstly I would like to ask for recommendations for books to read all about Mexican spirits from their Inception to distillation (yes I could garner all that information from the net), but i prefer physical books, secondly is it possible to work voluntarily for Mezcaleros and Palenques to work, live and breath these wonderful spirits in order to truly have a deeper understanding🙏🏻 physically through toil and tasting the expressions through different agaves and regional variations🙏🏻.

I'm fairly new to mezcal and there are a lot of options at my local store. I went with the Cuish Papalometl today. What would you all choose for the next pick up?

(I’ve enjoyed revisiting my memories and posting about some previous palenque visits. People seemed more positive than negative, so I’ll post some more. But my intention is not to spam the site or overrun it. So if you’ve seen enough of these, please feel free to say so or give me a negative vote and I’ll decist.) That said:

This father and son team cooperatively grow agaves, and work  together on distillations, but still take pride and differentiate on their expressions.  One will be labeled as Felipe’s, another as Ageo’s; they put their name on the ones they consider theirs.   

A visit to the homes and palenque of Felipe and Ageo Cortes is a fantastic experience.  They are gracious hosts and they lay out an incredible array of mezcals to try.  And as is often the case in visiting palenques (at least in my experience and quite possibly the difference is my perception), a first visit feels a more polite and restrained interaction, whereas a second or third becomes like visiting an old friend.  Polite greetings get replaced by broad smiles of recognition and warm handshakes and it just improves with each visit.

Located east of the city of Miahuatlan in the village of Mengoli de Morelos, a visit to their place begins with a drive past the large federal penitentiary that resides just west of them; a sobering reminder to be on good behavior or risk the consequences.  Their property has sweeping views of agave fields and arroyos, with that stern prison in the far background.   Father and son share the palenque and fields while residing in their own houses on the property.

They use a tahona wheel to crush their agaves, and it’s one of the prettiest I’ve seen; a maxtrix of river rocks embedded in cement. The pad they crush on is similarly beautiful.  The old wheel was still in use on our prior visit; worn down and shrunken in size, while a brand new wheel stood ready to replace it. On our most recent visit, the nubbed down old wheel was still in use.  Their tinas are wood, and on the day of our visit, there was a Jabali bubbling so aggressively that it had been weighed down with planks of wood and heavy stones to keep it in its place.  

They do double distillation in copper stills (unless it’s Jabali, which earns a third pass.). They typically distill around 48%.   They are well known to foreign consumers by their many bottlings for Mal Bien, Maguey Melate, and Agave Mixtapes.

After touring the palenque and wandering the fields of agaves, we returned to Felipe’s house for a tasting. I can only say that it is an embarrassment of riches.  Their routine on our visits is to simply line up 20+ expressions and say “help yourself”.  And while I’ve happily done so on a first visit, I’ve quickly learned that this is also a recipe for disaster if you have any more tastings planned for the day.  So on this visit, I choose to limit my choices by asking them to pick for me.

Pointing at the 25 bottles in front of me, I asked Felipe and Ageoto each choose four that they felt  best expressed their mezcals style.  Judging by their reaction, I think this tactic worked really well.  They definitely stopped, pondered…pulled a bottle forward then pushed it back in exchange for another…before making their choices.  With their favorites selected,I then chose 4 more that I was interested in as well, and that probably saved the rest of my day. 

We tried:
Coyote 2026 by Ageo – distilled the day of our arrival.
Espadin 2015- Felipe.  An oldie but a goodie.
Madrecuiche 2025 Felipe
Tobasiche 2023  Felipe
Jabali BIcuixe 2024 Felipe
Coyote Tobala 2025 Ageo
Arrequeno 2024 Ageo
Tornillo 2024 Felipe
Tepextate 2023 Felipe
Coyote 2023 Felipe
Puntas Madrecuiche 72% Felipe
Tobasiche Sierra Negra 2025 Ageo

It was a wonderful morning’s visit.  We ended up buying 8 liters of 10 varietals, thanked our hosts and left gifts for the children , fresh fruits for the ladies of the house, and headed out to our next stop.  If you ever have the desire to visit..you should.

Pictures:
Father and son

Brace yourself for their tasting

Old and new tahona wheels

Ageo with coyote (top) and tobala pinas

Crazy jabali Fermentation

Agave fields.

Felipe

Was in Coyoacan last week and popped into Alianza. Here'e the mezcals they offer, I picked up the blue bottle 'Despacio.' Haven't tried it yet but will let you know when I do

I very rarely see any mentions of Scorpion Mezcal i the different mezcal threads. It's a great product, though.

mezcalero: Valentin Cortes
location: Santiago Matatlan, Oax
maguey: chuparrosa (hybrid of americana and angustifolia)
oven: conical in ground
Molienda: tahona
distillation: double, copper alembique
distillation date: 2/2023
Lote: 1
Grado: 52%
Bottle: 132/922 (375ml)

Nose: sweet, green, bell pepper
Palate: cotton candy, mild jalapeno, salty lime, marigold flower

Very good but not exceptional imo, and relatively benign for a chuparrosa. Drinks way below 52% though

Bought this bottle in an artesanal shop in playa del carmen. Because it has cajeta in it, how long will it keep? Its sealed and i dont want to open it until im back in canada in 3 days.

La Mixteca Region Palenque Tour Stop 6 – Amando Alvarez – Santa Maria Ixcatlán

After our morning of confused hotel rooms and missed connections,  we said good-bye to Cornelio’s wife and headed on to our last stop of this three day tour. We were heading to Santa Maria Ixcatlán, to meet Amando Alvarado, the well known maestro who does cowhide fermentation and clay pot distillation for his papalomet mezcals.  But first, we had to have some more confusion.

The first dose came in the form of a disappearing road. We’d been directed to a dirt road that would save us an hour or so of driving, but it grew progressively worse until it became unpassable. So bad and narrow that we had to back up several hundred meters before we could even effect our 10-point turnaround, this ended up costing us a couple of hours.  As a result, we didn’t arrive in S.M. Ixcatlán until late in the afternoon.

The second bit of unexpected chaos was a great kind; there was a festival going on!
While Ixcatlán once was a thriving town with thousands of residents, its industry has withered, it’s young people move out, and its currently home to only 500 people. Typically now a town of many buildings but few people; but not today.

Omar has set us up with a wonderful surprise, by planning our arrival day to coincide with Ixcatlán’s annual religious celebration, the “Santuario del Señor de las Tres Caidas”, or “The lord of the three falls”.  It celebrates the bible passage when Jesus is walked to Calvary and he falls three times while carrying the cross. Ixcatlan is the focus of an annual pilgrimage to honor this event and an image of it that resides in the church.  Thousands of pilgrims descend upon the town for a celebration that goes on for several days, and we’d pulled into town at the event’s apex.  There were tents setup in very vacant lot in town, food stalls and vendors everywhere, and thousands of people about.

Of course, this celebration combined with our late arrival meant all our plans went awry. Don Amando had meant to show us his palenque early in the day, so that he could then attend to festival responsibilities that night. There was no time now to go to the palenque, as he was busy helping out in his families small shop. But come, come, we’ll go there now for a meal!  

The next six hours were absolute wonderous mayhem. Much of it forgotten in the haze of firework smoke and too many copitas of excellent cuero de vaca mezcals. We joined the parade as we walked toward Don Amandos. I noticed we were attracting a lot of attention; it was only several hours later that I realized why:   we were the only two Caucasian tourists in the entire town.   This resulted in a constant stream of curious stares, shy greetings, and braver questioning from those who spoke a bit of English.  Id’ often find myself talking to someone and then there would be 3 people…then 7…then 15.  As Omar said “You got interviewed a lot today”.

When we got to the shop, we found they’d converted it into a restaurant for the festival. There were 25-30 people crowded around tables, eating goat stew and quesadillas and drinking Victorias.  We were ushered into the kitchen, where we met Amandos family and ate around a big table.  The meal was delicious, and so too were the copitas of Papalomet that we were offered.  I’ve heard the term “funky” mentioned for  owhide mezcals in the past, and I’ve tasted a few that would qualify, but these were at another level. Super lactic, with an almost cheesecake flavor in the background.  Excellent stuff.  And the difference between it and Jose Froylan, who also uses cowhide but treetrunk rather than claypot, was marked.

We headed out from there to check out the dances, shop at the stalls, and drink more mezcal. We went to the Community Hall, where we were told that the townspeople provided free meals to the pilgrims…and that the local mezcaleros had each donated a garafon of their mezcals.  While most were being fed at tables outside, our unexpected appearance got us inside access, and we spent the next hour meeting a half dozen mezaleros and sampling their wares. I’m pretty sure Amando’s son was one of them, and I distinctly remember Victor Munoz; partly because he was a cop AND mezcalero, and partly because I bought one of his liters.  As we were doing all of this drinking in the dusky room, I also noticed that we were sitting in a tinder keg.  The room was packed with fireworks…and they’re about to get lit so lets go!

We left town around 11pm. Spent, full, and wonderfully content.  We didn’t get the opportunity to visit our palenque as planned, but what had transpired was even better and unplannable: a racous day filled with color and mezcals and friendly people.  My only sorrow was that we now had 2.5 hours of driving to get to Oaxaca and our hotel, and that our road trip was ending.

We tasted:  

Papalome

Papalometl

Espadilla

Ticuchi

Espadin

Pictures:
Amando Alvarez
Getting sprayed at the parade
Victor Munoz
Firworks room
Drunk Devils
Cucharillo wreaths
Fireworks dancing