Full Review

Mina Real

Mina Real
Blanco Mezcal

Category: Blanco Mezcal

Date Tasted:
Country: Mexico
Alcohol: 46%
91 Points
Gold Medal
Exceptional
$39

Mina Real
Blanco Mezcal

Category: Blanco Mezcal

Date Tasted:
Country: Mexico
Alcohol: 46%
Clear color. Aromas of sweet green pepper, fresh summer corn, and pineapple with a satiny, vibrant, dry-yet-fruity light-to-medium body and a long slate, chalk, and fresh basil finish. Vivid fruit and garden aromatics are followed by a rush of minerality on the palate; enjoy this complex, almost cerebral Blanco Mezcal neat or in thoughtful cocktails; good for Sotol fans.

Tasting Info

Spirits Glass Style: Spicy, Herbal, Complex & Fruity
Aroma Aroma: sweet green pepper, fresh summer corn, and pineapple
Taste Flavor: slate, chalk, and fresh basil
Smoothness Smoothness: Satiny
Enjoy Enjoy: in cocktails, neat and on the rocks
Cocktail Cocktails: Paloma, Sangrita, Tommy's Margarita
Bottom Line Bottom Line: Vivid fruit and garden aromatics are followed by a rush a minerality on the palate; enjoy this complex, almost cerebral Blanco Mezcal neat or in thoughtful cocktails; good for Sotol fans.

The Importer

Haas Brothers

The Importer
1808 Wedemeyer St. #160
San Francisco, CA 94129
USA
1 415-282-8585

Blanco Mezcal

Spirits Glass Copita Clear.jpg
Serve in a Copita
Blanco mezcal is a spirit from Mexico that can be made from as many as 18 different types of the agave plant, some cultivated and some wild. Most are produced in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. A blanco mezcal is distilled in a copper still (sometimes double distilled) and is not aged in oak, thus preserving a clear appearance.

Mezcal is often confused with tequila, as both are made from agave. But while tequila must be made from one specific blue agave, mezcal can be produced from eighteen different types of agave (maguey). There are two types of mezcal, those made exclusively from maguey and those made from at least 80% maguey mixed with other ingredients. Mezcal has similar aging terms as tequila, such as reposado and añejo, but generally mezcal is more of an artisanal product, so examples of mezcal vary more than tequila.

Most are double-distilled, while some are triple-distilled and then aged for several years in oak barrels. Flavors range from smoked herbs and pepper to tobacco and charred fruits. Serve these on their own, in an adventuresome cocktail, or with a cigar.