5 Sentidos Papalome con Espadilla

Verdict

Alvarez's Ixcatlán work remains underpriced relative to its character. This ensamble is drier and more austere than a Valles Centrales equivalent, and that's the point. Compared to a Nuestra Soledad village release from Oaxaca, it's less sweet, more mineral. Single-rating

Tasting notes

Nose: Dry hay up front. Chalk, cooked agave, faint menthol underneath

Palate: Papalome and espadilla both read on the dry, structural end of the scale; at 47.1% Alvarez finds a blend where neither dominates, and the Ixcatlán altitude signature comes through the mineral finish

Finish: Dry, chalky

The bottom line

Buy it if you want something distinctively Mixteca