Rosaluna Mezcal Artesanal-Joven, Oaxaca, Mexico

This is great for understanding what Espadin tastes like. While also allowing it to highlight agave flavor in a cocktail. My first thought when tasting the Rosaluna was that it is very agave forward. Vegetal notes with hints of soil, soft salinity/minerality on the finish really lets the vegetal agave flavors linger. There are so many agave-based cocktails where the vibrancy and subtle beauty that agave has gets lost in the drink. But with something like Rosaluna, not only are you tasting the agave, but you are tasting 6 generations of agave farming and care.

 Juan Jose Mendez-Leon Jimenez’s (His friends call him Jj) family has been growing agave since the 1750s. The Jimenez family, based in Santiago, Matatlan, are said to have introduced the copper pot stills to Mezcal production. Jj’s father, Juan Jose, was a key component of Mezcal getting their own Denomination of Origin. The history of the Jimenez family can be seen in Ji’s newest project, Rosaluna Mezcal. Founded in 2020, Rosaluna is a Single Estate, vertically-integrated producer that has their hands on each part of making the Mezcal from growing to bottling.  

With interest in Mezcal growing faster than ever, it’s important to have a flavor profile like Rosaluna in the category. Getting past the smoke and to the flavor is what Rosaluna does, and by highlighting the agave they are allowing the nuance of the plant to be recognized. Rosaluna is a great “gateway” Mezcal, not hiding behind smokiness and allowing the Espadin (agave) to mature fully to show that even a “basic agave” like Espadin to pack some flavor.