[gabe]

I found a couple dusty bottles of Del Maguey from '96, one San Luis del Rio and one Minero. Both were marked at $60, but the store owner seemed eager to sell so he sold at cost ($5 less--he is not a big player). I already bought the San Luis, should I also buy the Minero too?

Any danger the contents might be bad after being on the shelf this long?

The bottles were basically clear, not green, so there might be a bit of collector value too. What year did Del Maguey first come out?

[SILVER]

If in doubt about the cork's condition I turn the bottle up side down to check for leaks. Otherwise, the contents should be good.

[ianadmin]

Del Maguey dips the bottles in bee's wax before shipping, so the cork doesn't dry out.

Nice find. Del Maguey has used green and clear bottles, mostly round but also had a square bottle at one time for one of the mezcals. Today they come in hand-woven baskets.

1996 must be pretty close to their first introduction.

[gabe]

ianadmin, on Apr 7 2006, 03:33 AM, said:

Del Maguey dips the bottles in bee's wax before shipping, so the cork doesn't dry out.

Nice find. Del Maguey has used green and clear bottles, mostly round but also had a square bottle at one time for one of the mezcals. Today they come in hand-woven baskets.

1996 must be pretty close to their first introduction.

From poking around the Del Maguey website, it looks like San Luis del Rio was introduced in 1995, but Minero was introduced in 1996. So, we are talking first-year for the Minero! Both bottles have no basket and are clear rather than green. And yes, they are dipped in wax so I don't think the cork is an issue.

Yoink! (Bought the other one last night!)

[Adam]

gabe, on Apr 7 2006, 12:52 PM, said:

ianadmin, on Apr 7 2006, 03:33 AM, said:

Del Maguey dips the bottles in bee's wax before shipping, so the cork doesn't dry out.

Nice find. Del Maguey has used green and clear bottles, mostly round but also had a square bottle at one time for one of the mezcals. Today they come in hand-woven baskets.

1996 must be pretty close to their first introduction.

From poking around the Del Maguey website, it looks like San Luis del Rio was introduced in 1995, but Minero was introduced in 1996. So, we are talking first-year for the Minero! Both bottles have no basket and are clear rather than green. And yes, they are dipped in wax so I don't think the cork is an issue.

Yoink! (Bought the other one last night!)

Gabe,

I found one of the clear San Luis del Rio bottles at a liquor store today. I have an open bottle of the 2003, green bottle San Luis del Rio as well, which I love. Planning on comparing the two soon. Have you done a comparison of the clear bottle and green bottle San Lusi del Rio?

[gabe]

Adam, on Feb 2 2007, 12:24 PM, said:

I found one of the clear San Luis del Rio bottles at a liquor store today. I have an open bottle of the 2003, green bottle San Luis del Rio as well, which I love. Planning on comparing the two soon. Have you done a comparison of the clear bottle and green bottle San Lusi del Rio?

No, I finished the clear bottle a while back, and haven't bought a replacement. So the opportunity is lost. :(

Would love to hear your opinion when you try 'em back to back. I suggest, however, that you taste blind so you make an honest appraisal of which one is better.

[Adam]

gabe, on Feb 2 2007, 04:14 PM, said:

Adam, on Feb 2 2007, 12:24 PM, said:

I found one of the clear San Luis del Rio bottles at a liquor store today. I have an open bottle of the 2003, green bottle San Luis del Rio as well, which I love. Planning on comparing the two soon. Have you done a comparison of the clear bottle and green bottle San Lusi del Rio?

No, I finished the clear bottle a while back, and haven't bought a replacement. So the opportunity is lost. :(

Would love to hear your opinion when you try 'em back to back. I suggest, however, that you taste blind so you make an honest appraisal of which one is better.

I will try to get to this tonight. Be forewarned, I am not one who is great with tasting descriptions so the review may be pretty basic.

[Adam]

Well, this was interesting. I did the blind tasting as suggested (administered by my wife) and was a bit surprised. I expected the clear bottle to be smoother, maybe from being so old, but it was definitely more fiery and complex. The clear bottle had a very earthy, vegetal nose while the green bottle had a fruitier aroma. They both had the aroma of what I describe as " wet band-aid" smell (sounds bad but I like it and I think that is the smell of smoke) but it was more intense in the clear bottle version. The green bottle tasted like a more tame version of the clear.

I was convinced I knew which was which and was shocked that I had it backwards. They are both very enjoyable and I really enjoyed being able to compare the same product at different years of production.

By the way, did you have problems with your cork in the clear bottle? Mine was very brittle and broke right away. My wife had to dig it out but managed to do so without spilling cork into the bottle.

[gabe]

Adam, on Feb 2 2007, 07:47 PM, said:

Well, this was interesting. I did the blind tasting as suggested (administered by my wife) and was a bit surprised. I expected the clear bottle to be smoother, maybe from being so old, but it was definitely more fiery and complex. The clear bottle had a very earthy, vegetal nose while the green bottle had a fruitier aroma. They both had the aroma of what I describe as " wet band-aid" smell (sounds bad but I like it and I think that is the smell of smoke) but it was more intense in the clear bottle version. The green bottle tasted like a more tame version of the clear.

I was convinced I knew which was which and was shocked that I had it backwards. They are both very enjoyable and I really enjoyed being able to compare the same product at different years of production.

By the way, did you have problems with your cork in the clear bottle? Mine was very brittle and broke right away. My wife had to dig it out but managed to do so without spilling cork into the bottle.

Thanks for the report. Did you walk away feeling that one was definitely better than the other? Or were they just different? Did you feel that they were very close in flavor, or wildly different? (How much has the Del Maguey line evolved in 10 years?)

Yes, I did have issues with the cork on the old bottle. The wax top broke off immediately, and I had to fish the rest out with a corkscrew. A small price to pay for a good spirit.

[Adam]

gabe, on Feb 3 2007, 06:38 PM, said:

Adam, on Feb 2 2007, 07:47 PM, said:

Well, this was interesting. I did the blind tasting as suggested (administered by my wife) and was a bit surprised. I expected the clear bottle to be smoother, maybe from being so old, but it was definitely more fiery and complex. The clear bottle had a very earthy, vegetal nose while the green bottle had a fruitier aroma. They both had the aroma of what I describe as " wet band-aid" smell (sounds bad but I like it and I think that is the smell of smoke) but it was more intense in the clear bottle version. The green bottle tasted like a more tame version of the clear.

I was convinced I knew which was which and was shocked that I had it backwards. They are both very enjoyable and I really enjoyed being able to compare the same product at different years of production.

By the way, did you have problems with your cork in the clear bottle? Mine was very brittle and broke right away. My wife had to dig it out but managed to do so without spilling cork into the bottle.

Thanks for the report. Did you walk away feeling that one was definitely better than the other? Or were they just different? Did you feel that they were very close in flavor, or wildly different? (How much has the Del Maguey line evolved in 10 years?)

Yes, I did have issues with the cork on the old bottle. The wax top broke off immediately, and I had to fish the rest out with a corkscrew. A small price to pay for a good spirit.

I thought that the clear bottle was better. I may not go so far as to say they were wildly different, but different enough for me to pick a clear favorite. I withheld my opinion and had my wife try them blindly and she picked the clear bottle as well. I think we agreed it just had more mezcal intensity. I know that a tequila brand can vary alot by year produced but I would imagine this is more true with mezcal, given its homemade production and that there are probably less formalized processes. I think this what makes it more unique.

Thought you might enjoy these pictures. I ordered a couple of the Del Maguey posters from their website and had them framed for my home office. I think they turned out pretty well.

Attached File(s)

•  Del_Maguey.JPG (41.79K)
  Number of downloads: 18

[Lippy]

I was cooking up a HUGE load of nachos for yesterday's SuperBowl, and absently opened a jar of chipotle salsa.. The smell IMMEDIATELY sent me reeling. It reminded me of a great, smoky Mezcal. So I ran over to my bar and opened up that bottle of Beneva anejo. A PERFECT acccompanyment to spicy nachos!

[Mike Morales]

Adam, on Feb 6 2007, 12:01 AM, said:

I know that a tequila brand can vary alot by year produced but I would imagine this is more true with mezcal, given its homemade production and that there are probably less formalized processes.

Mezcal now does have a set of official Normas, and the processes have been standardized for some time.