Reviews / Maguey Melate Tequilana - J. Refugio Pineda Cruz
Review · · by The Editors
Maguey Melate Tequilana - J. Refugio Pineda Cruz
Jalisco tequilana as raicilla-adjacent mezcal – the interesting one
Score: 4.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Maguey Melate
- Maestro: Refugio Pineda Cruz
- Region: Zapotitlan de Vadillo, Jalisco
- Agave: Tequilana
- ABV: 48.9%
- Price: $65 ($)
Verdict
Refugio Pineda Cruz's tequilana from Zapotitlán de Vadillo is the bottle that quietly destabilizes the Oaxaca-centric idea of mezcal. A Filipino still in southern Jalisco, tequilana as the agave, and you get something that drinks like a distant cousin of Caballito Cerrero's raicilla work. Buy it if you want to expand the mental map of what tequilana can be.
Jalisco tequilana distilled as mezcal – a small revolution
Tasting notes
Nose: Green apple, then pine needle, cooked agave, a faint brine
Palate: 48.9% through a Filipino still in Zapotitlán de Vadillo, this reads much closer to raicilla territory than to mezcal from Oaxaca, with a savory vegetal edge that the Oaxacan tequilana bottles don't have
Finish: Dry, herbal, long
The bottom line
A borderlands bottle worth tracking