Reviews / Tosba Cenizo
Review · · by The Editors
Tosba Cenizo
Oaxacan cenizo that argues with the Durango default
Score: 4.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Tosba Mezcal
- Maestro: Edgar Gonzalez
- Region: San Cristobal Lachirioag, Oaxaca
- Agave: Cenizo
- ABV: 49.95%
- Price: $70 ($$)
Verdict
Cenizo in Oaxaca is unusual enough that most producers don't bother; Tosba does, and the result reframes what the agave can be. Edgar Gonzalez's expression is herbier and more mineral than the Durango benchmark (Amaras Logia), with that just-shy-of-50% proof doing exactly what cenizo needs. Between this and the Tosba arroqueño, the Sierra Norte is producing some of the most coherent bottles in the country.
Cenizo doesn't need a Durango zip code to make sense
Tasting notes
Nose: Hay with cracked pepper, a piney menthol undertow
Palate: Lean and herbal at 49.95%, with the cenizo's characteristic sharpness but a sweeter mid-palate than the northern bottles – Sierra Norte minerality instead of Durango dryness
Finish: Mentholated, cooling, very long
The bottom line
Worth chasing. Cenizo rewritten for Oaxaca