Mezcal Vago Ensamble en Barro and Tobala reviews (or, There Is Nothing Outside the Glass)

It's back to the Vago range, which I last tackled with my review of the Elote ( • Mezcal Vago Elote review ). My wife, who is amazing and perfect, grabbed me the Tobala for Christmas, and I paired that up with the the red label Ensamble because it's perhaps the most affordable ancestral I've ever seen. And they're both very, very good. Stats:
- Mezcal Vago Tio Rey/Red Label Ensamble en Barro (Mezcal Ancestral, Sola de Vega; 63% Espadin, 24% Coyote, 8% Blanco, 5% Mexicano, clay pot distilled; 183 liter batch, December 2019; 52.0% ABV), 87/100
- Mezcal Vago Emigdio Jarquin/Blue Label Tobala (Mezcal Artesanal, El Nanche Miahuatlan; copper pot distilled; 770 liter batch, April 2019; 50.6%), 88/100
But on a philosophical note I also wanted to add to something I said in my review of Hampden's DOK ( • Worthy Park 502 151 (V... ), contra Richard Seale, that's been bugging me in the meantime: the idea that after a certain point we have to judge how a spirit behaves in the glass. Because that can sound like I'm going full T.S. Eliot formalism, completely disqualifying everything having to do with production process, terrior, everything outside of the immediate content of the spirit itself that might seem like a legitimate route to talk about that spirit. But that isn't what I meant, and indeed I think it's just as silly as disqualifying the spirit the other way around. I mean something closer to Derrida's old point - simple, but as usual put in his convoluted fashion - that there isn't any perfect and pure factum to be found anywhere at all by which one could terminate discussion, or upon which one could hang all one's considerations. "Il n'y a pas de hors-verre," if you like: the production, the producers, the terroir, the taster, all of that is all in the glass already right along with the characteristics of the spirit, and I take it that the challenge for a taster is to occupy that space in an appropriate way (whatever that may be).

[@Walking_Ears]

Fun discussion at the end of the video, sort of about death of the author in distilling (or death of the distillery?)

[@differentspirits4157]

What can I say, I never really left grad school. 😅

[@welshtoro3256]

My relatives buy me stuff I would never normally pick up myself but I'm rather pleased they do for precisely that reason. I've been very pleasantly surprised by a number of those picks. Nevertheless, before we get started I have to say your bookshelf is messy and I'm going to thumb down. I think I heard some unpleasant breathing in the mix as well.
I had a nice Del Maguey Tobala a while back but when I went to replace it was freaking expensive. It seems to be an expensive agave but I got on to the Marca Negra Tobala (51.8%) and that is a good un for the money. "Celery", yep, celery salt or rather celery dipped in a little salt and pepper; mint, pickled gherkins, Spanish paraguayo, white roses and a dollop of rubber tire.
Okay, the Richard Seale thing. I commented on that. You'll have gathered by now that I share some nerdiness and come from a politics and philosophy background including problematic bookshelf arrangement. You are indeed inside the glass and, ultimately, it is your review. You own that review and we can take it or leave it. It's just a fun review at the end of the day. Forget the French and adopt some old fashioned British gumption and say what you believe with a little tasty hint of French. (I very much enjoyed the extra at the end.) Cheers. WT

[@differentspirits4157]

You're lucky my daughter hasn't destroyed the bookcase even more than she has. :D Thanks for the comment! I've not had Marca Negra's Tobala, but I remember an Espadin from a couple of years ago being excellent...