Maguey Melate Tequilana - Emanuel Ramos

Verdict

Tequilana azul as mezcal is a genre-clarifying exercise: it lets you hear what the still, the village, and the hand do to an agave you thought you knew. Emanuel Ramos makes a clean, sweetly aromatic bottle that will not blow minds but will settle arguments about whether tequila and mezcal are the same thing. They are not; this bottle proves it.

Tasting notes

Nose: Cooked pineapple with light smoke, wet hay

Palate: 46.5% through refrescador – the tequilana reads softer and more fruit-forward than a standard espadín but still has savory smoke that reminds you this is mezcal, not highland blue

Finish: Sweet, clean. Medium

The bottom line

Useful, pleasant, educational – in that order