Reviews / Ilegal Carribean Cask Finish

Review · · by The Editors

Ilegal Carribean Cask Finish

Rum-cask finish – a marketing department's idea of innovation

Score: 2.5/5 agaves

Ilegal Carribean Cask Finish bottle
  • Producer: Ilegal Mezcal
  • Region: Oaxaca
  • Agave: Espadin
  • ABV: 42%
  • Price: $70 ($$)

Verdict

An experiment that answers a question nobody was asking. Finishing a commercial mezcal in a rum cask gives you rum-flavored mezcal or mezcal-shaped rum, depending on your mood – either way, the agave stopped being in the driver's seat somewhere around hour one. Marketing-department innovation; not spirit innovation.

Cask finishes on mezcal usually add more problems than they solve

Tasting notes

Nose: Dark molasses, then vanilla, faint smoke

Palate: The rum-cask influence overwhelms the mezcal at 42%

Finish: Sweet, sugary – long

The bottom line

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Where to buy online

We found this bottle at 5 US retailers. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.

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