Our first proper Mezcal review! Mezcal is something HBR has had occasionally usually at a restaurant or bar, but we’ve never actually gotten together and sat down to actually reviewing a bottle. Overall Mezcal is made the same way as tequila, and like champagne Tequila merely signifies a region in which it’s made. This region however is so prolific that it’s de-factor standard, and too a certain degree Mezcal’s are often looked down upon as an inferior product.
Despite that not being the case, it sadly is the case here. Overall it tastes well enough – aside from the carbon. Like a child making breakfast in bed for their parent the substance is there underneath the burnt. The problem being that burnt is all you tastes, and it ruins anything it touches.
What they Say: “” (No text on bottles)
Taste: 5.0 – It starts of innocently enough, you can get a pit of fruit, agave, and sweetness. Sadly though…
Aftertaste: 2.0 – FIRE AND BRIMSTONE! BRING YOUR CHARCOAL BOYS! TONIGHT WE LIGHT THE FLAMES! This is not smoky like the peat of a scotch, of the heat of a rye. This is carbon, and if honest I think we only get this because the company had to put it through the damn charcoal filters so many times to get something out that didn’t kill you. Not exactly good tasting.
Burn/Smooth: 2.0 – It’s smooth like biting off the tip of your roast marshmellow stick. Sure there’s something there to help, but no.
Aroma: 6.0 – That does not smell like you think it would.. It smells almost like a barbecue smoker if there was a pit of tropical fruit used as the glaze. It’s distinctive, and possibly desirable?
Honesty: 7.0 – They don’t have any text (even on the website), and it’s a painted skull. While Kah does this as well, this has no wanky text. So therefore for this (and all of Sangre’s spirits) it will come down to a base score of 7 + the aesthetic of that bottle itself. The overall hippy look clashes with the spirit inside, although the worm motif makes sense.
Mixability: 2.5
Tequila Sunrise: 1.0 – Smoke and orange juice goes together like toothpaste and orange juice here.
Margarita: 4.0 – The citrus does a lot here to hide the mezcal, but not enough.
Value: 2.0 – Again much like the anejo, this is simply way too much money for a liquor that is downright awful. While we have not reviewed mezcal’s yet here, trust us there are good ones out there.
Google Shop Average: $50
Website: http://sangredevida.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 2.0
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Metric Score: 26.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 3.79 |+| Reviewer Average: 2.0
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Final Thoughts: I really believe this was filtered either through a used grill charcoal, or was filtered too many times. It’s sad really, like the picture above you have something that looks bright, colorful, and tropical – only to give you a black eye that stares into the depths of your soul.
