After a week of reviews of brandies and then a week of reviews of single grain whiskies, let’s shift all the way over to the Americas, to Mexico, and do a week of mezcals. I’ve reviewed a few mezcals in recent years and every time I do I become more enamoured of the general profile. My exposure to the category is not very wide or deep, however, and I am the furthest thing from an expert on it. I can’t tell you very much about the producers or the companies that release mezcals in the US, or about the characteristics of particular types of agave grown in particular regions, or about the effects of particular distillation regimes. For that kind of information you should look elsewhere—perhaps on the Mezcal Reviews website. What I can tell you is what I make of the mezcals I drink; it should go without saying that my responses are those of someone who usually drinks single malt whisky in the Scottish style. Alright, disavowals out of the way, I can tell you that the first two mezcals I am reviewing this week are from Mal Bien who bottle mezcals from small producers around Mexico. This alto was made by Isidro Rodriguez Montoya from the town of Río de Parras in Michoacán. Okay, let’s see what it’s like.

This is from Batch 0120IRH. Not sure what that means in terms of year of release.

Mal Bien Alto, Isidro Rodriguez (44.2%; from a bottle split)

Nose: Ah, a lovely blast of melon, passionfruit, grapefruit and gasoline with pepper over it all. A lot of salt on the second sniff. As it sits some lime emerges as well. A few drops of water bring out an almost custardy sweetness and a savoury quality as well.

Palate: Comes in with the fruit emphasized; just a faint hint of soap. Turns sweeter as I swallow. A big bite at 44.2% with rich texture. On the second sip there’s some green pepper, lightly charred. More citrus here as well with time (lime: juice and zest). Not much change here with water.

Finish: Long. Some zesty bitterness here along with more of the pepper. Water mentholates it a bit here.

Comments: Really quite lovely on the nose; the palate doesn’t quite live up to it but I’d be very happy if I had a bottle.

Rating: 87 points.