Reviews / Rezpiral Tobala / Tepeztate
Review · · by The Editors
Rezpiral Tobala / Tepeztate
The tepextate is muted – a rare miss from Berta
Score: 3.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Rezpiral
- Maestro: Berta Vasquez
- Region: San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca
- Agave: Tepextate, Tobala
- ABV: 46.5%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Tepextate wants proof; at 46.5% this pairing carries as tobalá with a tepextate garnish. Berta Vásquez is too consistent for this to be a craft issue, it's a proof issue. Compare to the Sabelotodo Arroqueño bottled 47–52%, where Félix Cruz lets the wild agave stretch. The 3.2 consensus is defensible; we round up by a tenth because the tobalá half is still textbook.
Tepextate below 48% is a producer under-promising
Tasting notes
Nose: Tobalá's honey up front, a faint vegetal tepextate ghost, not the green-pepper jolt the agave owes you
Palate: 46.5% undersells the tepextate, at 48%+ the marmorata character demands room to breathe, and here it stays furled. Tobalá carries the bottle
Finish: Medium, clean, under-expressed
The bottom line
Skip and buy the Berta tobalá solo or the five-maguey
Where to buy online
We found this bottle at 1 US retailer. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.