Reviews / Los Nahuales Special Edition No. 2
Review · · by The Editors
Los Nahuales Special Edition No. 2
A cirial-espadín blend that doesn't quite cohere
Score: 3.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Los Nahuales Mezcal
- Maestro: Joel Antonio Juan, Karina Abad Rojas
- Region: Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca
- Agave: Cirial, Espadin
- ABV: 47%
- Price: $70 ($)
Verdict
Ensambles are mezcal's version of a house blend, and the best of them produce something neither component could say alone. Los Nahuales' No. 2 doesn't. The cirial and espadín each arrive with their own paperwork and leave having had a polite meeting, competent but uncombined. Skip in favor of the special editions that worked; No. 1 and No. 3 do more with the same brief.
Two good agaves that never quite shake hands
Tasting notes
Nose: Wet hay, a green pepper edge, light smoke
Palate: The cirial's vegetal karwinskii lean and the espadín's cooked sweetness read as adjacent rather than integrated, at 47% the components are both legible, but the blend doesn't gel into a new third thing
Finish: Drying, disjointed, medium
The bottom line
The weakest of the special editions. Pass for the better numbers