Reviews / Maria Dolores Espadin
Review · · by The Editors
Maria Dolores Espadin
Matatlán espadín by the book – and the book is fine
Score: 3.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Maria Dolores Mezcal
- Maestro: Juan Diego Mendez Gomez
- Region: Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca
- Agave: Espadin
- ABV: 40%
- Price: $55 ($)
Verdict
Maria Dolores is honest Matatlán work from Juan Diego Méndez Gómez: pit-oven, mechanical shredder, copper pot stills, nothing showy and nothing hidden. The bottle would sing at 45% and currently hums at 40 – a producer doing everything right except the one decision that lets Banhez or the Doña Juana Matatlán argue at this price. Pour it, don't hunt it.
Juan Diego Méndez built a textbook espadín – the liquid just wishes it had another five points of proof
Tasting notes
Nose: Cooked agave over wet cement, green banana
Palate: Clean copper-distilled espadín at a cautious 40% – sweet, mid-weight, agreeable without insisting on itself
Finish: Warm, faintly grassy
The bottom line
A solid weekday espadín – reach for Banhez or Mestiza Negra first if either's on the shelf