Reviews / Praedium Ensamble de 7
Review · · by The Editors
Praedium Ensamble de 7
Seven magueys, one glass – the ambition bottle
Score: 4.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Praedium Mezcal
- Maestro: Moises Martinez
- Region: Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca
- Agave: Arroqueño, Espadin, Jabali, Tepextate, Tobala, Tobaziche, Tripon
- ABV: 51%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
The seven-maguey ensamble is mezcal's ambitious-producer move – most of the time it produces muddy bottles that taste of commitment but not composition. Praedium's is among the clearer examples. At 51% the liquid has the proof to hold together, and the producer's choices are audible. We'd put it alongside Rey Campero's multi-agave ensambles for category comparison. Buy it for the ambition; keep it for the structure.
Seven-agave ensambles usually fail. This one argues
Tasting notes
Nose: Layered cooked agave, green fruit, cedar, faint stone
Palate: Complex without being chaotic. Seven-agave ensambles usually run a risk of mud; Praedium's version stays surprisingly focused at 51%. The arroqueño brings weight, the tepextate and tobalá bring structure, the jabalí lifts floral, the karwinskii cousins (tobaziche, tripon) add mineral spine
Finish: Layered, clean – long
The bottom line
Worth owning as a category argument. It wins