Reviews / Sanloco Espadin

Review · · by The Editors

Sanloco Espadin

A mezcalero's name on a 40% bottle – a mismatch

Score: 3.0/5 agaves

Sanloco Espadin bottle
  • Producer: Sanloco Mezcal
  • Maestro: Rodolfo Juan Juarez
  • Region: San Juan del Rio, Oaxaca
  • Agave: Espadin
  • ABV: 40%
  • Price: $55 ($)

Verdict

Sanloco puts a mezcalero on the label and then proofs the bottle down to commercial cocktail-shelf levels. The craft is there in the glass, just diluted. Consensus 3.5 is a half-step high; we come in at 3.0. Would be 3.5+ at 45%.

A named mezcalero at 40% is a producer writing checks the ABV won't cash

Tasting notes

Nose: Cooked agave – then gentle smoke, faint grass

Palate: 40% undersells Rodolfo Juan Juárez's craft; the bottle is clean and slight where it could be clean and weighty

Finish: Short-medium, clean, smooth

The bottom line

A pass in favor of any single-mezcalero espadín at 45%+