Reviews / OAX Original Arroqueño
Review · · by The Editors
OAX Original Arroqueño
Arroqueño doing what arroqueño does, without apology
Score: 4.0/5 agaves
- Producer: OAX Original
- Maestro: Enrique Hernández Zenea
- Region: Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
- Agave: Arroqueño
- ABV: 44%
- Price: $150 ($$)
Verdict
Oax Original's arroqueño is the bottle that rewrites the mental model of what mezcal can carry. Fifteen-year-plus agave in a small-run distillate, proofed where it needs to be, producing the slow unfolding this species is famous for. Track Real Minero if you want the canonical arroqueño; this one sits closer in quality than the price suggests.
Arroqueño is the agave that teaches you what 'weight' means in mezcal
Tasting notes
Nose: Dark fruit with petrichor, woodsmoke
Palate: The weight is the headline, arroqueño carries a density at 44% that no espadín reaches, with cooked-fruit sweetness and mineral depth stacked in sequence
Finish: Warming, with a lingering cocoa note, long
The bottom line
Buy when you see it. Arroqueño at this level doesn't sit on shelves
Where to buy online
We found this bottle at 2 US retailers. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.