Mezcalendar Day 6: Alipus

Another Joven today, this time from the Santa Ana Del Rio.

It doesn’t promise much on the nose, the tequila like agave notes, with a mild smokiness but also an off-putting musty cellar note, alongside phenolic TCP and alcohol fumes.

There’s a bit more going on in the flavour, fruity with a whack of iodine and smoke. Its quite light in body. Daisy says it reminds her of formaldehyde and preservatives like in a regional museum plus old leather furniture. Steve rather liked it, reminding him of a peated Islay whisky, but it was too medicinal for Daisy.

Verdict: Whilst its assertive character may make for a good cocktail ingredient, it may just be Steve drinking them…

Mezcalendar Day 4: Los Siete Misterios Doba-Yej

An intriguingly named one here, though apparently Doba-Yej is a colloquial name or subspecies of Espadin agave. This is the 2013 edition.

This one is a lot more interesting on the nose with a fresh ginger root and licorice character and quite sweet too which leads Daisy to think of vanilla but also weirdly a note reminiscent of Chinese writing ink. Steve thinks he can detect cucumber but he might just be being weird as usual.

Taste wise there’s the usual agave syrup sweetness with a honeyed after taste and quite a boozy maraschino like cherry note.

Verdict: Its quite an assertive joven which we both quite enjoyed; so its another contender for our purchase. (though its apparently sold out; so maybe not 😦 …still samples left if anyone likes the sound of it however!)

Mezcalendar Day 3: Alipun San Baltazar

Day three and Joven number 3; Alipun San Baltazar. Another espadin joven from small producers. A difference here seems to be fermentation in pine VATs, lets see if that gives any flavour difference.

Steve reckons there’s earthy molasses and pear skin on the nose whilst Daisy picked up toffee and vanilla, alongside a medicinal whisky like smokiness. Adding water doesn’t do much for the aroma, making it seem more chemical/ plasticky.

Taste wise there’s a lot of smoke action, quite phenolic like a high PPM peaty whisky with a sweet and ashen finish. Daisy picked up some woody notes which could come from fermentation vessels. Contrary to aroma a touch of water brings out a peppermint note which is rather pleasant.

Verdict: This would make a good cocktail mixer but a little brash to be truly enjoyable by itself

Kicking Things Off

Steve & Daisy

Welcome one and all to our new blog, Drinks We’ve Known. Steve has been writing his other blog (Beers I’ve Known) for two and a half years now and Daisy has had to put up with chipping in from the sidelines. This is no longer the case because with this new blog we can both take a share of the posts between us.

Beers I’ve Known seemed to be heading away a bit from its original purpose of beer & cider related things to include whisky, cocktails and even gin! All of those drinks will find their home here along with anything else that takes our fancy. Expect travel tales, food and drink pairing, pub and bar visits and anything else that comes to mind! Drink doesn’t necessarily mean alcohol of course; so expect tea, coffee, juice and even soft drinks to find their place. But it’ll probably mostly be travel and cocktails. And cheese if Steve gets carried away.

You can follow us on twitter @drinksweveknown, though Steve will still mostly be active on @beersiveknown.

Cheers!