Reviews / Mal Bien Manso
Review · · by The Editors
Mal Bien Manso
Manso Sahuayo from Jalisco – a rarely-seen variety at Mal Bien caliber
Score: 4.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Mal Bien
- Maestro: Isidro Rodriguez Montoya
- Region: Rio de Parras, Michoacán
- Agave: Manso Sahuayo
- ABV: 46.7%
- Price: $150 ($$)
Verdict
Mal Bien's thesis is that the mezcal conversation is bigger than Oaxaca. Manso Sahuayo is the bottle that proves the thesis: a Jalisco heirloom rarely bottled single-variety, rendered with the importer's usual rigor. Softer than cenizo, drier than cupreata – a Jalisco dialect you won't learn from an Oaxacan bottle. Category-broadening work.
Manso is a category word most drinkers don't have yet
Tasting notes
Nose: Pine with warm stone, faint citrus
Palate: Cleaner and more northern than Oaxacan wild agaves at 46.7%
Finish: Cooling, mineral. Long
The bottom line
A category-broadening Mal Bien