Yuu Baal Reposado Espadin Mezcal

A Mezcal Reviews taster called Yuu Baal Reposado just amazing — candy, toffee, and peppermint, wispy and light, fading beautifully — and preferred it to the añejo. Yuu Baal is a social enterprise, a group of producers in San Juan del Río, San Luis del Río, Tlacolula, and Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, whose mission is to highlight native Oaxacan mezcal traditions with every step done by hand. Reposado starts with the house espadín — farm-grown agave roasted in a conical stone-lined pit, crushed by tahona, fermented with wild yeast in pine vats, and double-distilled in copper — then rests six months in ex-bourbon barrels, bottled at 48% ABV; every bottle is numbered by lot. Mezcal Reviews' tasters found light caramel, vanilla, and a touch of smoke on the nose, sweet toasted espadín with a mellowed barrel on the finish — a nice entry for someone curious about aged mezcal without breaking the bank — and, in a recent lot, toffee and peppermint everywhere. Six months in bourbon wood is a light touch: the oak adds vanilla and caramel without burying the agave's citrus and smoke, and the 48% keeps it from going soft. Honest note: reposado mezcal divides purists — Malt Review's commenters aren't excited by bourbon casks on agave — but this is one of the range's hits and a bargain. For an Oaxaca Old Fashioned, a mezcal Manhattan, or neat, it's the value reposado.

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