Reviews / Agave Mixtape Destilado de Manzana
Review · · by The Editors
Agave Mixtape Destilado de Manzana
A destilado de manzana – fruit brandy by another name
Score: 3.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Agave Mixtape
- Maestro: Isidro Rodriguez Montoya
- Region: Rio de Parras, Michoacán
- ABV: 52.2%
- Price: $60 ($)
Verdict
Agave Mixtape takes an aggressive approach to the 'destilado' side of the catalog and this apple variant is a well-made fruit brandy that some drinkers will love and most mezcal shoppers should understand they're buying outside the category. Two consensus reviews at 3.3 is about right. Compared with a Normande Calvados of similar price tier, this is more rustic and less refined; compared with mezcal, it's a different animal entirely. Pass unless you collect odd destilados.
This isn't mezcal; the label says destilado for a reason
Tasting notes
Nose: Fresh apple with faint yeast, dry wood
Palate: At 52.2% the fruit lift carries, but the destilado de manzana category sits outside traditional mezcal rules and the liquid reads more like a rustic Calvados than a cousin of mezcal. Isidro Rodriguez Montoya's Michoacán rig is clean work
Finish: Fruit, faintly vegetal
The bottom line
Pass. This is apple brandy, not mezcal