Tosba Arroqueno

Verdict

Edgar Gonzalez has built Tosba into one of the most consistently honest houses in Oaxaca, and the arroqueño is the bottle that proves it. Ten to fifteen years in the ground and it shows – this has the gravity that separates great arroqueño from merely good. Between this and Lalocura's arroqueño, the agave has the two references it needs. Grab it when you find it.

Tasting notes

Nose: Dark chocolate, then dried fig, tobacco leaf, warm earth

Palate: Dense, oily, deeply savory – arroqueño's characteristic bass note holding the mid-palate while a cocoa-and-leather sweetness builds behind it. Proof isn't listed but the density reads like high 40s

Finish: Warming, mineral. Very long

The bottom line

Grab it when you find it. A reference arroqueño