Maguey Melate Salmiana Blanco

Verdict

Daniel Navarro's campanilla distillation gives this salmiana a different quality than copper pulls from the same agave, drier, more mineral, less sweet. It's not the bottle that will convert a skeptic, but it's the one we'd pour for someone already curious about northern agave spirits who wants a non-showboating example. A real mezcal in the long shadow of Real Minero's regional work.

Tasting notes

Nose: Wet slate with white pepper, distant pine

Palate: 48.5% of structured northern agave through the campanilla still, grippy mineral body, a cool herbal mid, less intensity than Pedro Valdés' puntas but clearer-headed than most salmiana imports

Finish: Stony, dry

The bottom line

A quietly correct salmiana from the north