As is often the case, I happened upon Saca Diablos’ Golpe Zapoteco joven mezcal in a hotel in Mexico City about a year ago, and I’m so glad I did.

It’s an espadín with tons of character and sweetness, though not cloyingly so. With lots of vanilla and melon on the nose, this one is deliciously smooth, even at 48.5% ABV. It’s got a slight citrus undertone, like an orange blossom fragrance, but its coconut-y, custard-y notes make it seem almost creamy. I want to pair this one with a flan-like dessert or a sweet bread pudding. Super-tasty, and deceptively simple. On the technical side, Golpe Zapoteco mezcal is made from cultivated espadín, wood-fermented, double-distilled in copper, in Santa Ana Del Rio, Oaxaca, by maestro mezcalero Ausencio Molina Hernandez. I wish I could find out more about Saca Diablos, but little seems to exist on the ’net.