Reviews / Espíritu Lauro Anejo
Review · · by The Editors
Espíritu Lauro Anejo
Añejo at 40% – the aging can't save the low proof
Score: 2.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Espíritu Lauro Mezcal
- Maestro: Carino Ramirez
- Region: San Agustín Amatengo, Oaxaca
- Agave: Espadin, San Martinero, Verde
- ABV: 40%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Skip this – the ensamble the joven already undersold at 40% gets further flattened here by oak dominance, and añejo treatment on a commercial-proof base is a compounding mistake. The agave vocabulary that made the joven worth tasting is almost entirely gone. A commercial añejo that punishes the raw material. Consensus 3.0 reads generous by half a point.
40% añejo is a category dead-end no barrel program can rescue
Tasting notes
Nose: Oak, vanilla, faint cooked agave, soft smoke
Palate: Thin-bodied at 40%. Oak adds sweetness and decoration to a base that needed more structure before the barrel – the same pattern aged mezcal runs into whenever a commercial-proof base gets dressed in wood
Finish: Warm, oaky, with a slow vanilla fade. Stays medium
The bottom line
A skip
Where to buy online
We found this bottle at 1 US retailer. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.