Mezcal Tasting: December 18, 2021

6 Guests, 10 Different Mezcales!

Victoria, Surrounded by Agave Spirits

Victoria Tolonen, as far as I’m concerned, is a full-fledged Mezcal Maniac. At some point she found me on one of the mezcal oriented social media pages, noticed that I lived in San Miguel de Allende, and told me her parents lived here—and that we’d have to meet up for mezcal next time she was in town.

Then she was in town.

Based in Bend, Oregon, Victoria has received Sommelier Certification from the International Tequila Academy in Playa del Carmen, and is a Mezcal Specialist as certified by the Agave Spirits Institute in Oaxaca.

She messaged me upon arrival a couple of weeks ago, and quickly a plan developed. She would meet me and about 30 of my friends at our weekly Friday Mezcal group; then we’d have her for a tasting at our place on Saturday along with some others. Sunday we would tour Pozo Hondo, a hacienda with a large mezcal destileria in the general area, and there was even a mezcal event the following Wednesday.

The Tasting

Mucho Mezcal was Poured on Saturday!

It’s always been true that, when you’re in San Miguel de Allende, you might be surprised who you’ll bump into. In addition to Victoria, we had a couple I still don’t know much about, but also an artist from nearby Mineral de Pozos, a journalist with an impressive resumé and her friend, an author who was actually a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience last year. Nice bunch!

Here was the lineup:

1. Espadín (Gelacio Garcia Cruz / San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca)

2. Espadín (Wilfredo Garcia / Lagoche, Oaxaca)

3. Capón de Espadín (Gelacio Garcia Cruz / San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca)

4. Ensamble Ancestral (Jose Ruiz / Ejutla Crespo, Oaxaca)

5. Sacatoro (Omar Garcia / Guerrero)

6. Tepextate (Diego Martinez / Santa Maria Albarradas, Oaxaca)

7. Madrecuixe (Hermogenes Vasquez Garcia / Lagoche, Oaxaca)

8. Tobalá (Hermogenes Vasquez Garcia / Lagoche, Oaxaca)

9. Tobalá (Placido Hernandez / San Francisco Lachigolo, Oaxaca)

10. Serrano (Fernandez / Madera, Chihuahua)

The tasting lineup. There were too many to fit into the photo!

The first two Espadín were very different, with Gelacio’s being cleaner and Wilfredo’s more earthy and a bit sweet. With a Capón, the quiotes of the agaves are cut just as they’re sprouting to concentrate the sugars in the piña. This one, also from Gelacio, is the best of that variety I’ve ever had.

The Ensamble Ancestral I’ve had for years. It’s funny. Every now and then I get a mezcal and enjoy it—but it gets pushed aside by something more exciting. Then I find it, taste it and wonder why it’s been in my cellar all those years. This is an ensamble of Espadín and Tobasiche, and it’s great. Why “Ancestral”? Well this marks an interesting fusion in distillation types. While they distill in copper in order to keep their yield high, (you often lose a lot with clay), they also have it passing through a big clay passage before exiting. The thinking is that it may absorb a bit of that clay character in the process. Does it? I don’t know, but it is delicious with a bit of funk to it.

The Sacatoro? Fuhgettaboutit. This is possibly the most well received mezcal I’ve ever had—if you consider both casual sippers and serious mezcal maniacs. I don’t even know how to describe it; just very approachable, but with plenty of flavor. I never did find out just what part of Guerrero in which this is distilled. Someone who figured out I buy a lot of mezcal just happened to message me, so I bought some samples and fell in love with it from a distance.

The Tepextate from Diego is a fine, earthy mezcal. It’s a bit frustrating though; because although I think it tastes great, I don’t really get that classic, green Tepextate flavor from it. That said, still very worthy.

The Madrecuixe from Mogen is also very earthy, complex and beautiful. I’ve heard that the epicenter of the Cuixes may well be there in the Miahuatlán Valley where it’s made.

The Tobalás were also very distinct from one another. Mogen’s was surprisingly clean, with only a bit of the classic Potatorum flavor—but with a nice, round elegance. Placido’s? It’s just nuts. At 57% it has all the oomph you’d want—without seeming astringent at all. This combination of flavor and power makes it one of my best finds of 2021.

We ended (almost) with the Serrano, which is what the folks who make this in Chihuahua call it. In reality it is an ensamble of both a mezcal AND a sotol. They refer to the sotol component as “sereque” and the agave as “churique,” which is apparently another word for Lechuguilla. Some of my friends and I enjoy pairing mezcal with a cigar, but the truth? Often a cigar will overpower the spirit. You just can’t have everything, can you? But my point is that this puppy cuts clean through any cigar you care to fire up. In fact it’s so earthy it might be more appropriate to call it “dirty.” But I love it!

By the above “almost,” all I mean is that it’s almost impossible for me not to bring out at least a couple of other unusual or special mezcales when I see tasting participants becoming intrigued. There was another crazy good sotol, which I’ll talk about another time—and something called a Del Monte, which I’ve been told is most likely a Mexicano. There were probably more that came out, but I don’t remember. I may have been drinking.

Reception

It’s true that I can never know for certain how others are finding the mezcal I offer. But normally there’ll be at least one or two who bristle, wince, etc. This is perfectly normal, especially for those who are accustomed to more gentle and less adventurous spirits. I wrote about it previously in “Mezcal: You're Tasting it Wrong! Why Some Think They Don't Like Mezcal.”

But this appeared NOT to be the case for this tasting. In fact several bottles found their way into their welcome arms. And although I considered it a long shot, Victoria succeeded in organizing a spontaneous visit to Pozo Hondo’s destileria the very next morning—and most came along, suggesting they didn’t want the mezcal party to end.

Me pretending to know it all. ;-)

So it was a fabulous day, drinking fabulous mezcal with fabulous people. I really love these tastings; so as always just let me know if you’re in town—or soon coming to San Miguel de Allende—and I’ll have one for you too. Salud!