For the first booze review of the month, I have for you another mezcal. Last week I reviewed a special edition of La Luna’s Manso Sahuayo that was bottled for the Minnesota Agave Society. This week I have for you a tobala from Gusto Historico. Gusto Historico is a relatively recent brand. As far as I can make out, they are based in Oaxaca and bottle mezcals distilled by mezcaleros from the region, seemingly almost all from the town of Miahuatlan. Two of the main mezcaleros they work with are the father and son pair of Victor and Emanuel Ramos. This tobala was made by Victor Ramos. I specify this because they’ve also released a tobala distilled by Ignacio Juarez and another by Emanuel Ramos (the labels are of different colours and if that’s not enough to tell them apart, the names of the mezcaleros are on the rear labels that have lots of other detailed production info on them). I’ve liked all the (not-very many) tobalas I’ve tried so far and am looking forward to this one as well. Let’s get right to it.

Gusto Historico, Tobala, Victor Ramos (48.4%; Lot VR 08 21 TB; from my own bottle)

Nose: Grapefruit and lemon with a good dose of cracked pepper and a nice lick of smoke. More savoury on the second sniff with ham brine. Gets a little sweeter as it sits. With a drop of water the lemon and brine turn to salted lime.

Palate: Comes in as promised by the nose with a slight vegetal weight added on. Lovely, rich texture; a very good drinking strength. On the second sip that vegetal note resolves to bell pepper and there’s quite a bit of brine. Continues in this vein. With more time the pepper turns to jalapeño and gets vinegared. With water it gets brighter again.

Finish: Long. The salt and smoke expand here. With time a slightly bitter note emerges (lime zest). As on the palate with water.

Comments: This is just a lovely, balanced, endlessly drinkable mezcal. If you don’t like heavily vegetal or funky mezcals, this is for you. As much as I enjoy a well-made mezcal cocktail, a mezcal like this one makes me think that there’s really no need to make cocktails out of mezcal: mezcal is already a cocktail.

Rating: 88 points.