Reviews / Maguey Melate Tobala - Jaime Moreles Aquino
Review · · by The Editors
Maguey Melate Tobala - Jaime Moreles Aquino
A clay-pot tobalá under the proof it needs
Score: 3.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Maguey Melate
- Maestro: Jaime Morales Aquino
- Region: Villa Hidalgo Yalala, Oaxaca
- Agave: Tobala
- ABV: 43.1%
- Price: $60 ($$)
Verdict
Jaime Morales Aquino's clay-pot work is genuinely interesting in the plum destilado, but his tobalá at 43.1% lands in the undersell zone where tobalá's florals thin and the mineral can't quite hold. Pass and reach for a higher-proof potatorum from the same program; Ruben López's at 49.7% does what this one is trying to.
Clay-pot tobalá wants more conviction than this
Tasting notes
Nose: Soft honey, faint floral, damp earth, quiet clay dust
Palate: 43.1% is where tobalá starts to lose definition, clay pot adds mineral warmth but the potatorum doesn't drive, the mid-palate drifts rather than arrives
Finish: Short-to-medium, soft, fades
The bottom line
A pass. Tobalá at 43% is fighting with one hand