Los Danzantes Mezcal Reposado

Los Danzantes

Mezcal Reposado

Los Nahuales/Distileria Los Danzantes

41.6% Alcohol (83.2 Proof)

For a lot of people, mezcal is an enigma.  Many people think that the bottles with the worms or scorpions in them are specific types of tequila.  Well, no.  That's mezcal.  While coming from the agave plant like tequila, it is actually made from a different sub-species.  In addition, the hearts of the agave are roasted with mesquite, giving it smokier characteristic more like certain scotch.  Then the entire heart of the plant is fermented, fibers and all, whereas tequila production strains off the liquid and only ferments that.  

Los Nahuales makes some great mezcal out of the Los Danzantes Distillery in Oaxaca, Mexico.  They go over their mezcal process stating:

Exquisite and rich flavor from agave espadin grown in Oaxaca state. Traditional craft methods: agaves are slow roasted with mesquite, crushed with a stone mill, naturally fermented in a wooden tun, and double-distilled on a tiny hand-operated pot still. Distillers of mezcal put agave solids in the still (tequila distillers use extracted juice only), so that well-made mezcal is unusually full-bodied and complex.

Héctor Vazquez de Abarca is in charge of production at Distileria Los Danzantes, the source of Los Nahuales. His talent and passion means that every batch we get is better than the last. He retains the best from traditional methods, but he is also introducing refinements. Los Nahuales is more than great mezcal; it’s a world-class distilled spirit.

For now, I am reviewing Los Danzantes Mezcal Reposado.  Reposado means "rested" in Spanish and must be aged a minimum of 2 months, but not over one year in oak barrels.  Los Danzantes pours a clear, golden straw color.  It smells light and clean, with subtle smoke, honey, with the characteristic agave base.  While sipping it, you are treated to elegant smoke, a good oakiness, and a nice, subtle agave sweetness.  It finishes smooth, smooth, smooth.  Easily one of the smoothest and most well-balanced mezcals I have tried.  Give it a try, even if there is no worm in the bottle.  

Drink This: if you want a tasty, well-balanced, perfect example of mezcal that is smoooooooooth as can be.  . 

Don't Drink This: if you are going to drink it as shots.  This is more of a sipping mezcal.  Sadly, or maybe not, there is no worm or scorpion in the bottle...                

      

 

Low Gap Whiskey

Low Gap Whiskey

Craft Distillers

Clear Whiskey

Aged 357 Minutes in Oak

44.8% Alcohol (89.6 Proof)

Every once in awhile, something will catch you off guard.  Something will be so random, so unexpected, that it makes your head spin.  Now I have had quite a few "white" whiskeys over the years, including moonshine, pure corn whiskeys, and several "white dog" mashes of a variety of bourbons (including Buffalo Trace's White Dog Mash Recipe #1 reviewed just a few days ago).  But, the thing that's currently blowing my mind is Craft Distillers' Low Gap Whiskey.  This isn't your grandpa's cough medicine.

Craft Distillers' Low Gap whiskey is distilled by hand in an antique double-distillation copper cognac potstill from Germain-Robin's old Surrenne distillery.  If distilling whiskey in a cognac still sounds odd, that's because it is.  Low Gap is made from Bavarian hard wheat, slowly fermented to 8.8% alcohol, distilled, then brought to bottle proofing with rainwater.  That certainly sounds impressive and guess what?  The end product most definitely is.

Low Gap whiskey is aged for 357 minutes in oak before being bottled, but this liquid is as clear as spring water.  It smells like mildly sweet corn and bread, with some background notes that are almost floral.  Tasting it totally caught me off guard.  Whereas Buffalo Trace's White Dog is almost cloyingly sweet, Low Gap's sweetness is tamed down.  It has much more depth and roundness to its flavor, but it is almost difficult to describe.  There is a delicate sweetness, where the floral notes show up again, some wheat in the background, and an almost ethereal base.  It has surprisingly little alcohol burn.  

Don't let the plain looking bottle fool you, Low Gap is special stuff.  It is easily the smoothest, most elegant white whiskey I have tried.  I craved more after my glass was gone.  I'm excited to try this after it has been aged a few years.  Considering how delicate and refined it already is, several years in wood could give some of the heavily aged Pappy Van Winkle whiskeys some stiff competition.  

This is a white whiskey I may have to keep stocked in my liquor cabinet.  Brilliant, brilliant stuff. 

Drink This: if you want to try white whiskey done well.

Don't Drink This: if you don't drink whiskey neat or with a splash of water.  It would be a shame to mix something of this quality with cola or a sour mix.