Eli’s Mezcal Room tasting
I will be sharing an experience I got to do virtually via Eli’s Mezcal room based out of New York City. By coordinating with Dan who runs Eli’s Mezcal room we were able to get 6 samples of various Mezcals, all blind until the time which we tried them, wrote some notes, and discussed them. Each tasting has a theme and in our case, the theme was all of our Mezcal’s were made in Oaxaca.
In addition to the tasting Dan also led, for those of us still exploring and getting to know Mezcal a crash course in the history and diversity of Agave, Mezcal, and Mezcaleros in general. We also went through the various production methods, stills, resting, and all of the seemingly hundreds of variables that can have an effect on the flavor of the final product in front of us. With that introduction, let’s get down to the Mezcals, which as stated above were all roasted in an Earthen pit and I will detail out each production process and my notes below:
Victor Ramos Madrecuixe/bicuixe blend
This comes from Mezcalero Victor Ramos from Mengoli de Morelos, Miahuatlan. Victor and his son work with Mal Bien and used to work with Mezcalosfera. This was mashed with a tahona, fermented with well water in Mexican Cypress wood vessel, and distilled in copper.
March 2019, batch size of 400 liters
Abv: 49%
Nose: Fruity, Red Berries, Citrus, Lime Peel, heavy Minerals, Earthy, Green Vegetals
Palate: Medium mouth feel. Savory, Black Pepper, Heavy Green Veggies, Lime Peel, light leather hints.
Finish: Medium length, savory minerals, raspberries, light citrus, green vegetables, black pepper.
Rating: 7/10
This stuff is delicious, well balanced between the savory and the sweet, Eli indicated this batch may not have been bottled commercially and that is a bit disappointing, as I would seek a bottle of this out for sure.
Rezpiral Barril by Eduardo “Lalo” Angeles
This is a bottling by Rezpiral from Sanata Catarina Minas. This is one of the uncertified Mezcals, and Eduardo is a part of the family who runs Real Minero. He started his own brand, Lalocura. This batch was made at an altitude of 1560 meters, the agave was aged 14 – 17 years, mashed by bands with wood mallets, distilled in clay pots. This is an older bottling from Rezpiral’s Series 1.
Distilled in 2017.
ABV” 47.9%
Nose: Sharp, Grapefruit, hay, light honey, clay, tart.
Palate: Hay, Slight meats, tart, clay, Earthy.
Finish: Medium length, dry, tart grapefruity, honey and clay.
Rating: 6/10
A good showing that I like, but it leans a bit heavy into the tartness for me. Overall though still a good showing.
2014 Real Minero Barril
This is a Real Minero Barril that was distilled by Don Lorenzo Angeles, who was Eduardo Angeles Father that passed away in 2016. This was fun to try a side by side of a well known Mezcalero and his son’s offerings together. This was also a Barril agave, aged 15 years, batch size of 621 liters.
Batch: RMB-02 2014 Harvest
ABV: 49.9%
Nose: Allspice, Black Pepper, Brown Sugar, light corn sweetness, salted Pork
Palate: Medium mouthfeel, allspice, brown sugar, salted meats, light clay and earth.
Finish: Medium length, allspice, very dry finish, salted meat, light leather, musty corn.
Rating: 7/10
Oh man this was a real treat, so much allspice, slight sweetness, and some salted meats in there make this a real treat. In this I have to give an edge to the father as this batch is right up my alley with these tasting notes.
De Lino cucharilla distilled by Larazo Monjaraz Hernandez
This is a sotol offering made by the above producer. This is a now defunct Mexico only brand of a variety of Dasilryion, used to make Sotol. This was mashed with a millstone, fermented in a wooden fermenter made from Mexican cypress wood, and was distilled in clay pots. We have no production date, batch sieze, or bottle number to go off of.
Nose: Leathery, Rubbery, Light Salt, Campfire.
Palate: Rubbery, Light Vanilla, Earthy
Finish: Rubbery, Briney, Light Vanilla, Dry, Artichoke.
Rating: 5/10
This is one of the few Sotol’s I have tried and it’s just fine. It’s quite weird in its flavor profile and the rubbery comes through a little heavy for me but it’s just fine.
Espadilla from Teofilo Ribera:
This is an Espadilla produced in San Juan Bautista Jayacatlan. Made from Espadilla, a term for wild Espadin. Mashed with a millstone, distilled in a steel with a top piece / condensation chamber made out of clay. It was then fermented in a clay pot which is a regional technique and quite unusual due to the fragility of clay pots.
Batch: March 2018
ABV: 49%
Nose: Heavy Earthy, Minerals, Woods, Perfume, Funky
Palate: Medium Mouthfeel, Cream Cheese, Funk, Smoked Pork, perfume
Finish: Cream Cheese, Anise, Salty, Pork, Perfumey, Funky.
Rating: 7/10
This one took a little bit to get my bearing on but I ended up really enjoying it. Tons of funk, cream cheese, and salt the savory of this just worked so well together and this is one that would be hard to get ahold of but I would love a few bottles of this.
Tobala Puntas from Aristeo Ramirez
This one was a surprise. From La Compania, Ejutla region and made from Tobala. This was produced in March of 2016, which may indicate some glass resting. Puntas is the high alcohol heads of distillate, and are rare unless you happen to be friends with a Mezcalero, and are too high ABV to be certified as Mezcal. This was mashed by hand with wooden mallets and fermented in Mexican Cypress wood vessels.
ABV: 62%
Nose: Sharpie Markers, Pine, Minerals, Raspberries, Earthy
Palate: Thick and oily. Pine, Sharpie, Rasberries, Pine, Minerals, Earth, peppery
Finish: Long, warm and moist. Raspberries, coriander, Minerals, Sharpie a bit less here.
Rating: 8/10
Oh man this stuff is wonderful. I have only had 1 other Puntas and this is way more into the weirder, savory side of flavors versus the fruiter Puntas I have had. Not something I would want all of the time but it is just so wonderfully bursting with weird flavors and is quite fantastic.
Conclusion:
Overall, Dan put together a fantastic and fun experience. There were 6 of us who got together for an evening that was planned to be 1.5 hours but turned into 3 as tends to happen when you get a bunch of people geeky about spirits together. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to message Dan on Instagram @ElisMezcalRoom to get in on this, or once everything is open again to make the trip to NYC to do this in person. I will be planning to do this again in the future, and may have contributed to me wanting to spend even more money on acquiring Mezcal.