Reviews / 5 Sentidos Papalometl

Review · · by The Editors

5 Sentidos Papalometl

Alvarez and Jimenez on papalometl – the Ixcatlán staple at the proof where the agave shows

Score: 4.0/5 agaves

5 Sentidos Papalometl bottle
  • Producer: 5 Sentidos
  • Maestro: Alvarado Jimenez, Amando Alvarez
  • Region: Santa María Ixcatlán, Oaxaca
  • Agave: Papalometl
  • ABV: 45.4%
  • Price: $129 ($)

Verdict

Fifteen consensus reviews at 4.0 aligns with our read. The bottle would benefit from another percentage point of proof – Alvarez's other releases tend to carry slightly better, but the fundamentals are clean, and for anyone building a Mixteca flight it remains an obvious buy. Similar in register to Lalocura's Mixteca-adjacent work.

Papalometl under 46% is a gamble; Alvarez mostly wins it

Tasting notes

Nose: Dry stone, then green hay, cooked agave, a flick of orange pith

Palate: Papalometl can run thin; at 45.4% this release is on the low side of where we'd want it, but Alvarez compensates with long cooking and careful clay-pot work. The Ixcatlán terroir prints through, a dry, slightly saline minerality

Finish: Chalky, clean

The bottom line

Buy it. A reference Mixteca papalometl

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