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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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May 15, 2016 |
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Tequila and mezcal head to head |
To celebrate that Mayan city that a kid in Canada had just discovered using Google Earth, and that wasn’t actually a Mayan city, let’s have a few tequilas and mezcals today. Yeah I know, just any excuses. We’ll select them more or less at random, and have each categories in turn. Starting with, eenie meenie… |
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Los Arango ‘Reposado’ (35%, OB, tequila, 100% agave, 2010)  A bottle from the Mexican market, bearing the year of bottling. Sadly, the cork is very lousy… The name refers to Pancho Villa, it seems. Yeah, marketing stories are even lousier in Mexico than in Scotland. Colour: straw. Nose: very light, but rather elegant, soft, whispering, with whiffs of soft lemon juice and only a moderate ‘agaviness’. A little lavender and a touch of fragrant soap, as often. Mouth: really light, fresh, clean, slightly earthy… Not a lot to say, actually. The very low strength – again, it’s not a bottle for export – probably is a handicap. Finish: very short, but clean. It hasn’t got more power than a sylvaner or a white zin. Comments: it’s a clean, very easy spirit, but it’s frustrating. I think the original juice was probably ‘nice’. Ha, nice… SGP:231 - 70 points. |
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Mexcal Burrito Fiestero (40%, OB, mezcal joven, +/-2016)  Ha, imagine someone in Scotland starts to use the brand ‘Whixky’ or ‘Scotx’. A good idea or what? Right, right… Colour: white. Nose: the opposite of that Arango tequila. Much harsher, wilder, much more rustic, and much, much smokier and earthier. It’s acetic in a good way, there’s pickled gherkins, olives, cigar ashes, a lot of brine, flints, myrtle, a little camphor… Now beware contrasts, we’ll have to double-check all that in a few minutes, after we’ve tried other mezcals and tequilas. Mouth: its really earthy and dirty, and I’d swear there is some peat. Notes of old fabric, dishwater, which is a little less nice, but nothing to worry about. Also some eau-de-vie-ish notes, proof that this is very young indeed. No long aging in stoneware or glass. Finish: medium, calms down, and becomes a little soft. Earthy lemon. Comments: my kind of spirit. It’s just that we’ll possibly come across (even) better ones in a few seconds… SGP:353 - 82 points. |
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XQ ‘Blanco’ (40%, OB, tequila, 100% agave, +/-2014) The bottle looks really weird, like many other tequilas. The result of a meeting between bottles of Dimple/Pinch and Sandy MacNab. Colour: white. Nose: it’s hard after a good mezcal. This noses almost like some slivovitz, with some almond and some, well, plum spirit (well done S.) Zweschke. Mouth: better, more agave-y, but the plums remain there. It’s also got a thickish texture that’s a little scary, but of course they wouldn’t have glycerined it, would they. What’s sure is that the weak Los Arango was a cleaner, more complex spirit. Finish: medium, a little fermentary. Comments: oakayish, but I think it lacks definition to appeal to malt drinkers. Unless, as a mixer… SGP:331 - 72 points. |
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Marca Negra ‘Dobadán’ (47.8%, OB, mezcal, single agave, +/-2015)  This rather successful one comes with a perfect hipster-compatible packaging. I like it though, and I’m no hipster (even my offspring agrees). It seems that Dobadán is pretty rare. Colour: white. Nose: ooh, nice! It noses a bit like some Octomore new make, if you see what I mean. Perfect farmy, earthy, and smoky style, with even hints of horse dung, black olives, some kind of basaltic mud, and in the background, rather overripe bananas and other rotting fruits. ‘Ideas’ of Jamaican dunder-pit rum. Mouth: huge! Sure there’s the higher alcohol, but there’s also plenty of gritty, acrid, harsh, pungent (that’ll do, S.) stuff. Mixing olive brine and cigar ashes. Finish: long, superbly dirty. Comments: there’s something perverse and wacky to this fantastic spirit. The New York Dolls’ preferred? SGP:463 - 86 points. |
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2 ‘Reposado’ (40%, OB, organic tequila, 100% agave, +/-2016) Remember ‘reposado’ means only a few months of aging, often only two or three. So basically, they’re unaged spirits (and that’s why I’m having some amongst blancos/jovens). Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: ah, this is a tequila that’s got a little more to tell us, even if it’s much softer and shier than the mezcals. A few coastal notes, for example, or these touches of grapefruits. What’s quite striking is that there are loads of gooseberries. Mouth: unusual. Nougat and custard, light honey, cappuccino, butterscotch… It does feel a little liqueury, or ‘Baileyish’… Did the short aging happen in virgin oak? Finish: medium, with a little more agaviness. The vanilla stays there. Comments: not quite my thing, but I’m sure that technically speaking, it’s a very good one. But are they bourbonising tequila too? SGP:431 - 75 points. |
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Del Maguey ‘Pechuga’ (49%, OB, mezcal, +/-2014) I’m sorry, but LOL! This is the well-know espadin-based mezcal that’s distilled a third time with some chicken hanging in the still. They don’t make much of it – but as they say, there might be a reason. Colour: white. Nose: it’s complex. I’m not saying I’m getting the chicken, but it does have soft olives and capers, a little fresh walnut, savagnin-style, some grapefruits, and then more and more guava. We’re talking guavas found on location, not our supermarket guavas that are pretty odour and flavour-less. Having said that, I like the Marca Negra’s sharper and cleaner nose a little better. Mouth: it’s good, for sure. Citrusy, earthy – still can’t find the chicken – with as many gooseberries as in the ‘2’, some grass, some green tea, and an ashy/earthy herbalness. Perhaps a blend of lapsang souchong with gunpowder green tea? A little aniseed too, even pastis. Wasn’t it a French chicken? Finish: long, but once again, I prefer the ones that are better chiselled, sharp, blade-y… Comments: these pechugas are legendary, but I think there are better mezcals. At Del Maguey’s, for example. SGP:452 - 80 points. |
We must get back to tequila… |
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1921 ‘Reposado’ (40%, OB, tequila, 100% agave, +/-2015) This is 100% blue agave. Once again, the packaging is rather baroque. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: and once again, this is a much softer spirit, but we’re rather going towards the good mezcals this time. Hints of artichokes, olives, Brussels sprouts, smoky earth… In short, it’s rather more agave-y than the average tequila. Mouth: very good! Yesss, a tequila that I really enjoy! Olives, lemon, smoke, peat (yeah, really), gherkins, even a little tar… All good. There’s a wee roundness in the background that’s a little less engaging (vanilla) but that’s nothing. Finish: medium, appropriately sharp, zesty, earthy, smoky… Comments: wasn’t that artisan mezcal? No, I’ve checked the bottle again, it’s well tequila. But after all, all tequilas are mezcals… SGP:452 - 85 points. |
Is there going to be a twist in the drama? Let’s see… |
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Derrumbes ‘San Luis Potosí’ (43.5%, OB, mezcal, +/-2015)  This is single-variety mezcal (it’s called salmania, dunno what it is, wild or cultivated…), from a single village, namely San Luis Potosí. Sure we could do some research, sure… Colour: white. Nose: oh, potatoes! Then turnips and roses, beetroots, old clothes, tinned litchis, tinned sardines, and fermenting rhubarb. Or rhubarb wine. Saying that this is unusual would be an understatement. Mouth: yesssss. Gentian, roots, earth, green apples, cranberries, then bizarre – but lovely – notes of sweet old liqueurs, such as parfait amour and curaçao, while the earthiness keeps leading the pack, which is a good thing. Really unusual, with a sucrosity that I hadn’t expected, but the whole works. Finish: medium, a little sugary, but the very earthy/herbal background keeps it fresh and straight. Comments: fun spirit, a little disconcerting at times. But that’s a clear asset when you taste many spirits. SGP:652 - 84 points. |
Good, where are we? One, two, three…seven, eight agave-y spirits. Do we push this to ten? OK, a tequila then… Eenie meenie… Oh, ‘sugar!’… |
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Mejor ‘Pink’ (40%, OB, tequila, 100% agave, +/-2016) Well, this quote is worth its weight in peanuts: ‘Mejor Pink is a chic presentation of Mejor's fabulous Blanco Tequila. Made from hand-selected 100% Blue Agave, Pink is dressed up with a vibrant hue and stylish contemporary packaging to exude a sophistication that complements the ultra-smooth superior quality of Mejor's Tequila. Pink is chic modern luxury.’ Copywriters on acid. Colour: please do not ask! Nose: frankly, it’s okay. It doesn’t smell of roses, cheap cologne, or cheap jelly babies. A typical light, rather agave-oriented nose, fresh, clean… And pink. No! Mouth: I hate to write that this is good. You just have to forget about the colour. Lemon, touches of earth, olives, brine, smoke, green apples, herbs… Finish: medium, nicely salty, agave-y, earthy… Comments: I had feared it would have been sweetish, or strangely girly, or inexpressive. Not at all, this is pretty good tequila – just with a very weird colour. Correction, copywriters AND marketers on acid! SGP:452 - 80 points. |
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Papadiablo (47%, OB, mezcal, +/-2014)  Some expensive mezcal made out of espadin (cultivated agave) mixed with various wild agaves, but I don’t know about the proportions. Very lovely packaging, by the way – just don’t mistake it for the sparking water on your table. Colour: white. Nose: no! Varnish, Uhu glue, more jelly babies, pineapple drops… Where’s the wildness? Where’s the smoke? Where’s the earth? It’s there, actually, but totally subdued. A little camphor coming through, which is better. Mouth: no way. Strange, ridden with nail polish and other varnishes, wrecked distillation (distilled tropical fruits, usually a total miss)… You have to wait for a long time before more positive ideas come to your mind. About the packaging, for example… Finish: medium, still very varnishy. Comments: with mezcal, anything goes, but there ought to be limits. I think this one’s totally weird. Have I mentioned perversion before? SGP:441 - 50 points. |
A little math now. Tequila’s average is 76.4, while mezcal’s is… 76.4. I swear I did not make that up. |
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