Legendario Domingo bottle mezcals made in various states of Mexico. As far as I can make out from their website, they currently have five labels, each covering batches of mezcal from a producer in a different region: Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi and Durango. This particular bottle is from the Colon family mezcalera from Nombre de Dios in Durango. It is made from a variety of maguey that I have never tried before (though that’s true of the majority of them): Cenizo; and I believe this is also the first mezcal from Durango that I have reviewed. The mode of production is quite different from that of the Vago Ensamble I reviewed last week. That one is a mezcal ancestral, the agave ground by hand and the spirit distilled in clay stills. This is a mezcal artesenal. The agave is roasted in an undeground oven but milled with an electric shredder; and the distillation happens in an alembic still. What it does have in common with Vago, however, is the general illegibility of the label. Thankfully, the labels are at least colour-coded for the different producers, so if this review inspires you to go out and look for this one, just keep an eye out for the purple label (though I’m not sure, I think each producer makes mezcal for Legendario Domingo from the same maguey each time). Okay, let’s get to it.

Legendario Domingo, Cenizo (47%; Lote DGOEX-07; from my own bottle)

Nose: Leads with damp, vegetal notes with some organic rot in there along with a bit of smoke; yes, there’s definitely some eau de decomposing rodent in the mix (no, I’m not suggesting this was distilled with a rat hanging over the still a la pechuga). On the next few sniffs there’s a bit of lime and jalapeños in vinegar; some salt too. More vegetal with a couple of drops of water but otherwise unchanged.

Palate: More savoury and earthy than vegetal here but generally in the same ballpark as the nose. Very good drinking strength and texture at 47%. More smoke and expanding pepper on subsequent sips. With time there’s a slight plasticky note but it works here. With time some sweeter fruit peeps out as well (plum?). More of the acidic notes with water.

Finish: Long. The pepper and smoke hang out for a while. The salt expands with each sip. As on the palate with water.

Comments: I hate to make whisky analogies while reviewing mezcal but in this case, my first sniff—and then my first sip—immediately put me in mind of Ledaig, the peated incarnation of Tobermory’s single malt whisky. The mix of organic and savoury notes and smoke—and yes, that eau de dead rat—really bring Ledaig to mind every time I drink this Cenizo. Is that a quality of the maguey or of the specific production process? Well, I will keep an eye out for more Cenizo mezcal for the sake of science. And I think I will probably replace this bottle. Though it’s not the best of the mezcals I’ve had recently, it’s quite different from the others and very directly pleasurable (and the price is quite reasonable too).

Rating: 87 points.