Reviews / La Cava de los Morales Mezcal

Review · · by The Editors

La Cava de los Morales Mezcal

Total Wine's house mezcal – private-label espadín

Score: 2.5/5 agaves

La Cava de los Morales Mezcal bottle
  • Producer: La Cava de los Morales Mezcal, Total Wine Spirits Direct
  • Region: Mexico
  • Agave: Espadin
  • ABV: 43%
  • Price: $39 ($)

Verdict

La Cava de los Morales is what happens when a national retailer asks 'what's the cheapest bottle we can put our name on?' The liquid isn't bad – at 43% it's at least above the 40% commercial floor – but there's no producer story, no village, no texture. Skip for any named-producer bottle at the same price, including Banhez, Vida, or Koch Elemental.

Private-label mezcal is the category's retail homework

Tasting notes

Nose: A faint smoke, a thin vanilla top

Palate: 43% – La Cava de los Morales is Total Wine's Spirits Direct private-label mezcal, and it drinks exactly like that: polished, neutral, oriented toward price-point reliability rather than producer personality

Finish: Clean, warm

The bottom line

Skip. Buy a named producer for the same money

Where to buy online

We found this bottle at 1 US retailer. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.