Gusto Historico Mezcal

By James Colino, Founder of Mezcal Culture

 

Brand: Gusto Histórico Mezcal​
​Category: Destilado de agave (see note below)​
​Agave: 100% Madrecuixe (Agave karwinskii)​
​Producer: Maestro Mezcalero Victor Ramos​
​Region: Mengolí de Morelos, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca​
​ABV: 52% (varies batch to batch)
​Batch: 200 litres

​​THE SNIFF:
​ - Green vegetables, tobacco, and cool mint.
​​
​THE KISS:
- A little apple sweetness and a hit of salt before the vegetal side kicks in.
​​
​THE COAT:
- Silky, almost oily. Vegetables and herbs up front with salted caramel behind that, followed by a crack of white pepper.
​​
​THE SWALLOW:
​ - Intensity: Hot. It's 52%, and you'll feel it.​
- Complexity: Complex​
- Body: Full​
- Length: Long​
- Smoke: Light

Did I Like It? Yes!

OVERALL REVIEW: This one drinks like a vegetable garden, and I mean that as a compliment. Madrecuixe is a karwinskii agave, the tall skinny ones that grow like little trees, and it almost always leans green and savory instead of sweet. Victor Ramos made a clean, textbook version of that.

The nose gives it away immediately. Tobacco, green pepper, cool mint. Then the first sip surprises you by coming in bright and slightly sweet before the herbs and vegetables take back over. It coats thick and finishes long, turning earthy with a peppery bite that sticks around well after you swallow.

At 52% it burns, but the alcohol is folded in well and it never smells sharp. If the heat is too much, a couple drops of water knocks the edge off and lets the green side open up.

Only 200 liters exist, so grab it if you see it!

BARTENDER’S NOTE: If you've spotted a bottle labeled "destilado de agave" and wondered if it's some kind of knockoff, let's clear that up…it's not.

Destilado de agave just means agave distillate. This is the catch-all for any agave spirit that doesn't qualify for a government regulated designation like mezcal, tequila, raicilla, or bacanora.

Producers land here for a few reasons:

  • Certification is expensive and producers don’t want to pay it.

  • Government regulations clash with how a producer works.

  • The palenque sits outside the map lines of an official production zone (DO).

  • The producer doesn’t feel the process adds any value.

None of these reasons makes the liquid inside your bottle worse.

In fact, some of the most honest, traditional, small-batch agave spirits live outside the regulatory system because their makers wouldn't compromise the process to fit the paperwork.

DOWNLOAD THE TASTING GUIDE:

Below is the tasting guide I use to capture my notes. ​I designed it to follow the way you "should" drink mezcal -- Sniff, Kiss, Coat, Swallow. You can download it here: Mezcal Tasting Guide | MezcalCulture.Com - 2026.pdf

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James Colino is the founder, chief editor and Chief Mezcal Officer of Mezcal Culture. He holds a Level 1 Mezcal Certification from the Agave Spirits Institute and can be found visiting mezcalerias across the world, host tastings at home for friends, or and working with bars on their agave programs.

 
MadrecuixeJames Colino