Mezcal Vago Elote Review | The Most Unique Artisanal Mezcal?

[00:00:00] What if I told you one of the most unique agave spirits I've ever tasted gets its flavor from corn? Not flavored corn whiskey, not a liqueur. Real artisanal mezcal that's made with roasted heirloom corn during distillation. I know sounds strange, but today we're going to find out how this mezcal avago elote, which I've tasted many times, is actually brilliant. It's not a gimmick. So let's pour this glass now. Fresh pop. I just picked this bottle up at a local liquor store, and I wanted to do this on the show because I thought this is such a cool experiment. And speaking about experiments, if you want to find out about tequila scores, reviews, best sub lists, featured stories, great tequila education, get the tequila report for free. 62,000 people get this in their email every week. Why don't you go to the Tequila Report.com subscribe and check it out. Now let's dive into this bottle. Mezcal Vago built a reputation for letting each mezcaleros make mezcal their own way instead of forcing them into a certain recipe. This elote expression was originally created by the late maestro Mescalero A. [00:01:08] Garcia Lopez, and today his sons continue to make it exactly the same way. It is made from 100% espadine agave in Oaxaca, bottled right at 50% ABV. So we've got plenty of proof to work with. But what makes this famous is a third distillation. It starts as a traditional mezcal. The mature agaves are roasted for several days in an underground pit oven, giving them that signature smoky character. After cooking, they're crushed with the tohona, naturally fermented with open air and wooden vats using only wild yeast that's in the environment. Then it's twice distilled in copper pots. So far, we're right on track with a normal mezcal. This one, they do it a little differently. They roast heirloom corn in a clay colmel until it develops these rich, toasted aromas. The roasted corn is added directly into the still along with the mezcal for a third distillation. They're not adding flavors after the fact. They're actually distilling the roasted corn with the spirit, which creates a completely different character while still keeping agave true to mezcal. I don't know that I've had another bottle that tastes quite like this, so see how it actually smells? I've been able to smell it the whole time. It's Just been sitting here coming out of the glass. It's crazy. Okay, let's dive completely in. Definitely get that smoky character. I get a fruity agave note. There's a little bit of honey. There's some minerality. It's kind of buttery. And I don't know that I can actually smell a corn, but there's definitely this buttery roasted note that I can say I've never smelled in a mascot before. And I will say it's a little savory and it's a little sweet all in the same, like Comet. It smells rich, but it smells sweet as well. Okay, let's take a sip. Agave still front and center. You get a little bit of this roasted corn note. Almost like when you cook corn on the cob on the grill, and you get a little bit more of that burnt note from the husk. So you get like, this smoky corn note with this really nice agave note. There's also a really nice, like, tropical fruit note. And then this nice minerality that comes in. Great mouthfeel. Really nice. Hangs around for a while. I will say after taking the first taste and going back in and and smelling it and taking the second taste, I actually could smell that roasted corn got smokes there. Not overpowering. It adds a nice complexity to it. Nothing really overpowers each other. The agave is good. That roasted corn note is nice. The minerality is nice. That tropical fruit's good. It has a really nice, rich mouth feel too. And you can tell it's a little bit higher proof. 50% ABV. It does drink really easily. Third sip. Minerality stronger, that corn, stronger, that agave stronger. And the finish, it's there for a long time. There's a black pepper note. There's a mint note. There's some roasted like nuts. And then that corn is more like a sweet corn note that just kind of there. This is unlike anything I've ever really had before. And what it does remind me of is some of the pachugas where you get to experience all these different flavors inside the mezcal. This is kind of, to me, like a pachuga, but without protein, if you ask me. Is this worth buying? Absolutely. I picked it up at a liquor store on the south side of Indianapolis. I think it was $54. If you're looking for your first mezcal, I may not start with this one, but it's something definitely worth exploring as you gain more experience in mezcals and looking for different flavor profiles. If you've ever had this one, let me know. Let me know your thoughts about Vaga as well. I do really enjoy everything I've had from them so far, so I can't wait to find and try more of these. 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