Oaxacan Fruit Brandy: Maguey Melate Zapote x2, Mango x5

Will we have tariffs on our geographically closest trading partners? Will we maybe annex Canada? I don't know!! Sorry!! But hey, why not consider buying some fun Mexican spirits from the relevant importers while you still know where the prices are at and while the more interesting among the importers are still in business. Because tequila's never going away (no matter how silly Casamigos pricing gets) and neither are the big-brand mezcals, but the fun stuff is another matter.

And today we're having fun indeed. It's not weird agave, it's not even sotol, it's fruit brandy from southern Mexico, one of the great places in the world to grow fruit; Maguey Melate has been putting out little bottles here and there for a couple of years now (not to say they're keeping the info up on their website, though 😑), so let's taste through a flight of them: two eau de vies of zapote (or sapotes) and five of mango. Stats, with as much info as I can find:

Maguey Melate Zapote by German Manzano Martínez (Santa María Zoquitlán, Oaxaca; double-distilled in copper pot, March 2023; 45.1% ABV), 81/100
Maguey Melate Zapote by Eutiquio Rios Hernández (Santa María Zoquitlán, Oaxaca; bottled circa 2023; 48.5% ABV), 82/100
Maguey Melate Mango by Flavio Cesar Rodriguez Rodriguez (San Pedro Taviche, Oaxaca; double-distilled in copper pot, June 2023; 42.0% ABV), 83+/100
Maguey Melate Mango Chaparro by José Jaime Morales Aquino (Villa Hidalgo Yalala, Oaxaca; double-distilled in clay pot, bottled circa 2024; 45.2% ABV), 88-/100
Maguey Melate Mango by Eutiquio Rios Hernández (Santa María Zoquitlán, Oaxaca; bottled circa 2023; 46.5% ABV), 83/100
Maguey Melate Mango Criollo by Edgar González Ramírez (San Cristobal Lachirioag, Oaxaca; double-distilled in copper pot, April 2021; 50.3% ABV), 86+/100
Maguey Melate Mango Criollo by Tomás Nava Lancaster (San Luis Potosí; distilled in clay, aged 8 months, bottled circa 2023; 47.5% ABV), 84/100

Kind of an uneven flight and the Zapotes are clearly less successful, but the good stuff here is real good. Both offerings from Eutiquio really, really remind me of the kind of style that's just everywhere in Alsace and Baden - austere, a bit floral, but still showing fruit character - and even if they're not my favorites, that's kind of amazing. The Zapote from German Manzano Martínez, meanwhile, is kind of all smoke to me (especially after water), and it's not badly done but it's my least favorite thing here.

The aged Tomás Nava Lancaster - yes, I know it's San Luis Potosí, but still - really, really presents as a damn good reposado tequila, and the only thing wrong with it is that I was left looking for mango. The little Flavio Cesar, by contrast, still may not be the most complex thing here but does scream MANGO the absolute loudest. Your winners are the Edgar González Ramírez, a big rip-roaring ultra precise bottling that presents exactly as you'd want a mango brandy from an espadin distiller to present, and the absolutely killer clay-distilled texture monster from Jaime Morales Aquino. And if you can't get some of these - you probably can't - take this video as a kind of proof of concept. Mezcal distillers absolutely know how to deal with fruit, and when you see some out there it's worth your consideration.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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