Reviews / Pasión Ancestral Arroqueño-Tepextate
Review · · by The Editors
Pasión Ancestral Arroqueño-Tepextate
Arroqueño-tepextate – a reference ensamble pairing at reference proof
Score: 5.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Pasión Ancestral
- Maestro: Alexis Canales Angeles
- Region: Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca
- Agave: Arroqueño, Tepextate
- ABV: 50%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Ensambles of two wild agaves at committed proof are the category's most ambitious form, and this bottle is one of the cleanest executions of it we've tasted. Pasión Ancestral treats arroqueño and tepextate as complementary rather than competing – density meets lift, earth meets floral, and lets the 50% carry them. Buy when you see it; this is why the category exists.
The ensamble that proves two wild agaves are better than one when a producer knows what they're doing
Tasting notes
Nose: Dark fruit, wet stone, gardenia, cocoa, green pepper
Palate: 50% ensamble of two wild agaves that couldn't be more different – arroqueño's density meets tepextate's vegetal-floral lift, and 50% gives both of them the air they need. The structure is legible note by note
Finish: Complex, slowly fading – very long
The bottom line
Worth taking. A reference ensamble of two wild agaves