Reviews / Maguey Melate Cupreata - Don Fede Collector's Box
Review · · by The Editors
Maguey Melate Cupreata - Don Fede Collector's Box
Don Fede's late-career cupreata – the collector's box pick
Score: 4.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Maguey Melate
- Maestro: Federico Valentín Alva Ibáñez
- Region: San Nicolás Huajuapan, Puebla
- Agave: Cupreata
- ABV: 53%
- Price: $70 ($)
Verdict
Honor Federico 'Don Fede' Alva Ibáñez by name: this is among his last batches, and the liquid reads like someone who has nothing left to prove. Hunt the collector's box while it exists – the cupreata here is denser and more articulated than most Puebla releases, with a composure that can't be taught. A legacy bottle, not a marketing one.
Don Fede at 95 – this is what eighty years of cuts sounds like
Tasting notes
Nose: Warm honey up front. Dried orange, pine, wet stone underneath
Palate: At 53% and in his mid-nineties, Federico 'Don Fede' Alva Ibáñez distills cupreata with the economy that comes from eighty years of practice – every note has a reason. Puebla terroir adds a drier edge than Guerrero
Finish: Very long, warming, quietly spiced
The bottom line
A legacy pour. Buy before the shelf goes dark