One of the unexpected things that happened in 2023 is that I suddenly, randomly became very enamoured of mezcal. This happened in the second half of the year when I finally drank some samples I’d acquired and hoarded. It wasn’t long before I was buying bottles of my own to explore further. I’ll have reviews of those bottles in the coming months; here now is a review from one of the aforementioned samples. It is a Tobala released by Cinco Sentidos, a brand launched by El Distilado, an Oaxaca restaurant that is renowned for its collection and championing of mezcal produced by small distillers in the region. This particular Tobala was bottled for Tricks of the Trade, a store in Fort Worth. I’ve liked all the Tobalas I’ve tried so far—not that my exploration so far of the vast range of agaves and producers has been very wide or deep. Anyway let’s see what it’s like.

Cinco Sentidos, Tobala (48.1%; for Tricks of the Trade; from a bottle split)

Nose: Ashy smoke, ham cure, brine, green peppers, lime. Gets grassier with each sniff and there’s some wet limestone as well. With more time there’s some cracked black pepper. Lime ascendant here too as it sits and the wet limestone moves in the direction of clay. With a drop of water the sweeter fruit from the palate shows up here as well.

Palate: Comes in fruity (charred pineapple, passionfruit, lime) and ashy. The salt explodes as I swallow. A bit of a bite at full strength; rich texture. More lime as it sits and more smoke. Continues in this vein. Brighter with water and less salty.

Finish: Long. After the salt subsides, lime, green pepper and smoke are the top notes here. Less salt here too with water.

Comments: Really like this one, and I’m beginning to think that tobala might be my preference so far of the few maguey varieties I’ve tried. Mind, I’ve only had three tobalas. More research needed.

Rating: 88 points.