The third agave spirit of this week—and a shout out to the very few who read my reviews of the two Cinco Sentidos mezcals (here and here)—is not a mezcal per se but a raicilla. Raicilla is produced in Jalisco. As far as I can make out, it’s made in much the same way as mezcal but is outside the regions officially recognized for mezcal production. Well, it’s also the case that a lot of raicilla is single-distilled, whereas mezcal is typically double-distilled. But the one I have for you today, bottled by Bonete, was apparently double-distilled as well. So the distinction between it and mezcal may just be nominal. The major sub-regions for production are along the coast near Puerto Vallarta and in the Occidental Mountains. The former bear the appellation “Costa”, and the latter, the appellation “Sierra”. This one is Bonete’s Costa—I think they also bottle a Sierra. Anyway, I am curious to see what it’s like and if I can make out much of a difference from mezcal.  Continue reading →