It's been some five years since The Whisky Jury had burst onto the scene, and already the indie bottler has firmly established itself for offering a great selection, which we've also learn to expect equally spectacular labels on. They cover well-aged classics like Islay's Laphroaig and Speyside's Glenrothes, to younger-aged, fast becoming cult classics such as Ben Nevis and Bunnahabhain, all of which comes with gorgeous artworks, from intricate animal drawings personified as royalty, to the paintings of Dutch Master's. And with all that firmly established, it's unsurprising that The Whisky Jury would eventually grow to include great rum and Cognac selections too - again, acing pretty much every expression I've had the chance to try.

But Joeri, the man behind The Whisky Jury, is clearly a man of passion. And as the saying goes, passion is everything that goes beyond reason - and in the case of The Whisky Jury, it never seems like this was ever purely a commercial project. Now, every indie bottler says their work is borne out of passion, but let's just say that there are varying proportions of passion in what they do. For The Whisky Jury, it seems like the ethos is really all about what more impact can be created through the brand, risk be damned! And here's an example that illustrates my point - Joeri has never shied away from championing lesser known producers. Heck, he's even done a side-by-side peated and unpeated pair of expressions from relatively new Swedish distillery Agitator. Or how about multiple vintages of German producer St. Kilian. It might well remain unspoken, but the financial risk of backing a relatively lesser known producer is not something many indie bottlers are willing to take on. Not only does it require the bottler to have full conviction in their taste, but there's also the effort to educate drinkers, not to mention the reputational risk to one's brand - it's the literal definition of putting one's money where one's mouth is! And that takes guts!

And so over the past half a decade, The Whisky Jury (who should really be The Spirits Jury by now, which again is testament to how the project has taken on larger proportions than was initially anticipated, which is what passion gets you!) has began to move away from the safe harbours of well-aged Laphroaig's, exciting Ben Nevis', funk favourite Hampden's, comforting Demerara's, and those oh so juicy Prunier's, and have delved increasingly deeper into uncharted territories, surfacing names that break the mold and deliver something unique. That to me is what sets Joeri's work at The Whisky Jury apart - the ability to maintain a consistently high quality (regardless of the spirit), whilst completely embracing the risk of bringing out something new. Is that after all not the very spirit of the legendary indie bottlers we revere?

And to that end, we've got with us a Mezcal bottled by The Whisky Jury! I don't believe many indie whisky and rum bottlers have yet ventured to the realms of Mexico to bring back some Mezcal! And so, again, something very novel! Big admiration for Joeri's work once again as well! 

This is Hombre Marginal, which I believe relates to the concept of the "Marginal Man" (as it translates to in English). The Marginal Man in its simplest characterises a person who whilst involved in two different cultures, nevertheless finds themselves suspended between the two, identifying fully with neither. Whilst little has been elaborated on where it was produced (other than that it was produced in Oaxaca, Mexico) or the meaning behind the name, I suppose it could be speculated that it might refer to The Whisky Jury's overlapping across various different spirits. Well, who knows?

Also worth noting is that unlike most traditional Mezcal's, this one is bottled at full distillation strength, which is a trend we're definitely going to see more of from Mezcal brands, so I'd say this puts The Whisky Jury ahead of the curve. It's made from Espadin agave, unaged of course, and comes in at 54.3% ABV. It also features the human evolution (if you believe in that sort of stuff... we're just kidding!), yet predicts the next phase to be one where we're firmly back on all fours on the ground, perhaps as a result of this high proof Mezcal!

In any case, let's give this a go!

PS. Shoutout to YX from The Single Cask bar in Singapore for letting us try this! Also worth noting is that The Single Cask bar (Singapore) has moved to its new location, and it's bigger and better than ever! With food this time around! Stay tuned for our bar review on the new spot! And of course do check them out!

Mezcal Review: Hombre Marginal High Proof Mezcal, The Whisky Jury

Tasting Notes

Colour: Clear

Aroma: It opens really supple and pillowy, with a plume of sweet vegetal scents of grilled zucchini and aubergines. It has this aromatic purity where it's clean and unmuddled, focused on this marshmallow of roasty vegetals.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, really precise and clean once again. It's centered squarely on those same grilled vegetals of zucchini and aubergines, yet here it's more open and fans out with more expressiveness. There's a subtle underlying richness of vanilla cream too, that's not particularly sweet, yet more generous in the texture and aromatics that it offers to the body.

Finish: That cleanness and clarity persists into the finish. It's a long finish here, with more complexity coming through in the form of charcoal cinder, almost alittle ashy and smoky, yet still really soft and pillowy, with also some savouriness to it.

My Thoughts

This was all things considered a really approachable and versatile expression of a Mezcal. Now, it's not disclosed who produced it, and tasting it doesn't really offer much in the way of clues either. I'd characterise it as being the most archetypal textbook Mezcal - it's definitely well made, it captures the classic Mezcal flavour profile really well and keeps it at just that. Whilst there's not much in the way of distinctiveness or anything that surprises, it does deliver a very clean and pure expression, with all those lovely aromatic and yet supple smokiness, along with those grilled vegetals. It's really smooth and unmuddled, certainly not acrid of nippy, really mellow and yet has a nice presence and boldness to its rich, savoury sweet flavours.

It's all the classic flavours delivered with precision and strength, refined to a fault. It is after all an art to perfecting the basics, isn't it?

Kanpai!

@111hotpot