Reviews / Cutwater Joven

Review · · by The Editors

Cutwater Joven

A San Diego craft label that has no business distilling mezcal

Score: 1.5/5 agaves

Cutwater Joven bottle
  • Producer: Cutwater Spirits
  • Region: Durango
  • Agave: Cenizo
  • ABV: 45%
  • Price: $70 ($$)

Verdict

Cutwater is a craft cocktail-in-a-can brand owned by AB InBev, and its mezcal is exactly what you'd expect, a commercial line extension with no producer provenance and a hollow-core flavor. Skip without ceremony; the Durango wild-agave category has legitimate bottles, and this isn't one of them. Reach for Amaras Logia cenizo instead.

Mezcal made by a cocktail-can company, and it drinks like one

Tasting notes

Nose: Artificial smoke with a vaguely agave-adjacent note

Palate: Durangensis at 45% should be interesting; Cutwater's treatment is thin, commercial, and aggressively engineered

Finish: Sugary, synthetic, short

The bottom line

Skip. This is mezcal as marketing exercise

Where to buy online

We found this bottle at 3 US retailers. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.