Reviews / Cuish Arroqueno - Rufino Felipe Martinez
Review · · by The Editors
Cuish Arroqueno - Rufino Felipe Martinez
Santa Catarina Minas arroqueño, clay-pot, Rufino's hand
Score: 3.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Cuish Mezcales
- Maestro: Rufino Felipe Martinez
- Region: Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca
- Agave: Arroqueño
- ABV: 48%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Cuish is the importer doing single-maestro releases at volume without diluting the premise, and this Santa Catarina arroqueño is a textbook example. Rufino's work is dense and deliberate. Buy it over the larger-brand arroqueños – Real Minero price-pressed, Lalocura unfindable – and you're getting the same category at honest money.
Arroqueño that takes its time and makes you take yours
Tasting notes
Nose: Dark chocolate, roasted poblano, wet stone, dusty cocoa
Palate: 48% is the floor for arroqueño and this one clears it – Rufino Felipe Martinez distills in clay at Santa Catarina Minas and the result is earthier than most modern arroqueños
Finish: Dry, faintly smoky. Long
The bottom line
An arroqueño worth bringing home when Real Minero's shelf is bare