Maguey Melate Tobaziche - Felix Cruz Angeles

Verdict

Félix Cruz Ángeles and Félix Ángeles Arellanes are distinct maestros making clay-pot tobaziche in the same tiny town, and the bottles are close enough that a blind flight is genuinely educational. This release edges the other by a breath on articulation, not substance. Buy whichever you find and be grateful Santa Catarina Minas still exists as a living distillation tradition.

Tasting notes

Nose: Cool mineral, green pepper, wet herb, a riffle of smoke

Palate: 47.7% of clay-pot karwinskii that sits slightly more forward than Félix Ángeles's, same village signature, marginally louder articulation

Finish: Dry, herbal, long

The bottom line

A Minas tobaziche worth the shelf space