This week of reviews of mezcal began with a Mal Bien release made from  maguey alto, a type of agave. That was a mezcal from a small producer in Michoacán. Today’s review is also of a Mal Bien. This time the mezcal is from Oaxaca and made from maguey verde by Victor Ramos. Unlike in the current world of Scottish whisky, where not very many different varieties of barley are used, there is a lot of variation in the types of agave used in making mezcal. As I said on Monday, I know next to nothing about any of this—I couldn’t tell you what the expected characteristics of different kinds of agave are or whether this one made from maguey verde is a good example of the type or an outlier due to other variables of the production process. If you are an aficionado, feel free to enlighten me. I can tell you that I very much liked the Mal Bien Alto and am hoping this Verde will be at least as good. Let’s see if that’s true. I am not sure, by the way, if there have been multiple releases of this but my sample is from Batch 032DER.

Mal Bien Verde, Mezcal (47.84%; from a bottle split)

Nose: More vegetal and less bright than the Alto. Some sweetness on the second sniff but it’s earthy rather than fruity. Becomes more savoury after that. Lime emerges as it sits along with salt. The earth gets pretty damp with a few drops of water.

Palate: Comes in with more acidity here and more smoke. Quite a bit of lime as I swallow. A good bite at full strength; decent texture. More savoury here as well with each sip. With time the bitter notes pop out earlier and the vegetal quality expands. Not much change to speak of with a few drops of water.

Finish: Long. The lime crests and is joined by some vegetal bitterness and a bit of pepper. Water doesn’t do much here either.

Comments: A very pleasant mezcal, and not one I’d turn down a pour of, but nothing very special in my view.

Rating: 84 points.