Maguey Melate Lechuguilla - Agapito Yepiz Vega

Item: Maguey Melate Lechuguilla - Agapito Yepiz Vega
Rating: 3.5
Author: The Editors

Sonora lechuguilla at 48.5%. Dry, unsentimental

Score: 3.5/5 agaves

Producer: Maguey Melate
Region: Alamos, Sonora
Agave: Lechuguilla
ABV: 48.5%
Price: $55 ($)

Verdict

Lechuguilla is a spiny, demanding Sonoran agave and Agapito Yepiz Vega treats it that way – don't reach for this looking for softness. Hunt it if you want Sonoran mezcal stripped of romance. Closer to what Derrumbes Sonora aims at than most commercial bacanora. A regional specialist's bottle for regional specialists.

Sonoran lechuguilla – desert in a glass, unvarnished

Tasting notes

Nose: Creosote, then dry citrus, warm granite, faint saline

Palate: Agapito Yepiz Vega distills Sonora lechuguilla in copper at 48.5% – the desert character reads unapologetically dry, the mineral backbone is the whole point

Finish: Long, dry, saline

The bottom line

Dry Sonora lechuguilla. Track for the region