Los Perditos Tepeztate

Verdict

Commit. Tepextate at 54.6% is the kind of move that usually backfires, the agave's high-pitched aromatic character tends to smear at extreme proof. Los Perditos has threaded it. The bottle reads closer to Mezcalosfera's best tepextate work than to any of the commercial producers putting marmorata on shelves, and the still proof here is doing real compositional work. Buy when you see it. You won't see it often.

Tasting notes

Nose: Sharp menthol, wild mint, green pine, cool stone

Palate: 54.6% is the upper register for tepextate, and Los Perditos has produced it without compression, the marmorata's aromatic altitude is not only intact but amplified. The bottle is a demonstration of proof as concentration, not noise

Finish: Cooling, herbal. Very long

The bottom line

Reference-caliber tepextate. Hunt it