Reviews / Cinco Sentidos Chumil
Review · · by The Editors
Cinco Sentidos Chumil
Refugio Calzada's abocado papalote – infused with the chumil stink bug, more serious than it sounds
Score: 4.0/5 agaves
- Producer: 5 Sentidos
- Maestro: Refugio Calzada Hernandez
- Region: Tetitlán de la Lima, Guerrero
- Agave: Papalote
- ABV: 47.6%
- Price: $70 ($)
Verdict
Four consensus reviews at 4.3 runs slightly ahead of our 4.0 – the bottle is genuinely interesting but the abocado infusion format is controversial enough that we're calibrating conservatively. Compared with the Chumiate traditions of Central Mexico, this is mezcal adjacent; compared with a straight Guerrero papalote, it's a more particular pour. Buy it for the curiosity, not the shock value.
Chumil in the bottle is less gimmick and more savory fingerprint
Tasting notes
Nose: Wildflower, then cooked agave, green herb, a specific earthy-nutty overtone
Palate: Chumil (a regional insect) is macerated during the abocado process and adds a distinctive savory-mineral edge rather than anything you'd describe as buggy. At 47.6% the liquid hits like papalote with an unusual undertow
Finish: Flinty, earthy – long
The bottom line
Buy it if you're category-deep; pass if you haven't yet tried straight papalote