Reviews / Rezpiral Salmiana
Review · · by The Editors
Rezpiral Salmiana
Berta Vásquez's salmiana at 47.7%. A wet-green agave disciplined
Score: 4.0/5 agaves
- Producer: Rezpiral
- Maestro: Berta Vasquez
- Region: San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca
- Agave: Salmiana
- ABV: 47.7%
- Price: $70 ($)
Verdict
Salmiana is an agave the category hasn't quite figured out – wet, funky, vegetal, and usually under-bottled by commercial producers. Berta Vásquez's 47.7% version is one of the cleanest solo salmianas in distribution, and her method makes the funk read as texture rather than fault. Pick it over Reyes y Cobardes Salmiana without thinking; this is what that agave should taste like.
Salmiana done by a maestra – finally at the right proof
Tasting notes
Nose: Wet grass, green herb, cooked agave
Palate: Medium-weight, salmiana's characteristic funk present but kept in line by Berta Vásquez's tahona-milled method. The uncertified, small-batch frame is exactly what this agave wants
Finish: Vegetal, mineral – long
The bottom line
A buy – the salmiana argument settled