Oaxaca · Sierra Sur · Sierra Mazateca · Valles Centrales

5 Sentidos

Single-village. Single-mezcalero. Often single-batch.

Espadín agave loaded into the underground conical oven for an eight-day roast — Miahuatlán, Oaxaca

Why we carry them

5 Sentidos (also written Cinco Sentidos) is, in our opinion, the most important mezcal project in the United States today — a curatorial label rather than a single distillery. Each bottle names the mezcalero, the village, the agave, the still, and the batch. We carry it because no other label in our store gives you that level of transparency, and because the bottlings keep rotating in ways that reward customers who pay attention. The "same" Espadín from the same family next year will taste different. That's the point.

We carry over a dozen 5 Sentidos bottlings at any one time, plus two private-batch Off Premise releases — bottles we hand-selected with the team and put our own name alongside the mezcalero's.

Eduardo "Lalo" Pérez Cortés · Miahuatlán

Eduardo "Lalo" Pérez Cortés in the agave field at his family palenque in Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
Lalo runs the family palenque in Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, deep in the Sierra Sur. His Espadín Puntas — the heads pulled off the still mid-distillation — is one of the project's benchmark bottles, and his work was the centerpiece of our in-store Cinco Sentidos tasting in May. Cane-pressed mezcal made the way his grandfather made it: agave roasted underground for eight days, milled with horse and tahona, fermented in pine vats with ambient yeasts, and double-distilled in a small copper alembic.

The mezcaleros · the names on the bottles we carry

5 Sentidos prints the producer's name on every label. Off Premise currently has bottles from:

  • Eduardo "Lalo" Pérez Cortés · Miahuatlán · Espadín Puntas
  • Tío Pedro · Arroqueño — slow-grown, savory, dense
  • Alberto Martinez · Espadín Capón — castrated agave, longer maturation, sweeter spine
  • Tío Tello · Cuishe — tall, columnar maguey grown for decades before harvest
  • Delfino Tobón Mejía · Pechuga De Mole Poblano · San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Puebla
  • La colección Mixteca · Edition 4 · multiple bottlings (Azul, Papalome, Blanco, Pizorra) sourced across the Mixteca region

Plus our own Off Premise Private Batch Espadín con Mandarina — a 5 Sentidos bottling rested with whole mandarinas, made specifically for the shop.

The land · Sierra Sur, Mixteca, Valles Centrales, Puebla

Lalo Pérez Cortés at the family palenque, Miahuatlán
The bottlings span Oaxaca's major mezcal-producing regions and several less-traveled ones. Sierra Sur (Miahuatlán) gives us Lalo's benchmark Espadín. Valles Centrales contributes the classic Espadín-and-Arroqueño axis. The Mixteca — straddling Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero — sits at the heart of our most adventurous 5 Sentidos lineup, the rotating "Edición 4" series. And from San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Puebla, Delfino Tobón makes one of the most unusual pechugas in the project — built around wild Papalote (agave potatorum) and the spice and chili profile of mole poblano.

The agaves · maguey by maguey

5 Sentidos is the easiest way in our store to taste through the spectrum of Mexican maguey:

  • Espadín — the workhorse, fast-growing, the spine of the lineup
  • Tobalá / Papalote — wild, small, mountain-grown, intensely aromatic
  • Mexicano — vegetal, pine-y, often grown on terraces
  • Cuishe / Madrecuishe — tall, columnar, decades to mature
  • Arroqueño — slow-maturing, savory, dense
  • Sierrudo, Bicuixe, Jabalí, Tepeztate — wilder still, single-batch only

Some bottlings are ensambles — blends of multiple agaves cooked, milled, fermented, and distilled together. Others are single-maguey. The label tells you which.

How to read the label

Every 5 Sentidos bottle carries the mezcalero's name, the village, the agave species, the still type (clay, copper, alembic, refrescador), and the ABV the maestro chose to bottle at. Most are between 47% and 52% — proof of bottling at the producer's preferred strength rather than the importer's. Read the back: each label is a paragraph about the people who made what's inside.

In stock at Off Premise

13 bottles · click to add to cart

5 Sentidos Espadin con Mandarina (Off Premise Private Batch) 49.3% ALC./ VOL. 750ml

5 Sentidos Espadin con Mandarina (Off Premise Private Batch) 49.3% ALC./ VOL. 750ml

This small batch of "Espadín con Mandarina" is the result of young mezcalero Eduardo "Lalo" Perez Cortés' experimentation with distilling seasonal ingredients along with locally harvested Espadín. To…

$150
An Evening with Lalo Pérez Cortés · Cinco Sentidos · May 10

An Evening with Lalo Pérez Cortés · Cinco Sentidos · May 10

An intimate tasting and Q&A with Eduardo "Lalo" Pérez Cortés, the young Oaxacan mezcalero behind some of Cinco Sentidos' most quietly extraordinary releases — his first visit to the United States. Eac…

$150
Cinco Sentidos Arroqueno, Tio Pedro

Cinco Sentidos Arroqueno, Tio Pedro

Type: Mezcal Joven (unaged), artisanal / ancestral style; labeled as "Destilado de Agave" (uncertified in many markets) Agave Type: Arroqueño (Agave americana var. oaxacensis or similar wild variant);…

$135
Cinco Sentidos Cuishe Tio Tello

Cinco Sentidos Cuishe Tio Tello

Type: Mezcal Joven (unaged), artisanal / traditional Agave Type: Cuishe / Cuixe (a variant of wild Agave karwinskii) Producer / Palenquero: Eleuterio "Tío Tello" Pérez Ramos (master distiller with ove…

$130
Cinco Sentidos Espadín Capon, Alberto Martinez

Cinco Sentidos Espadín Capon, Alberto Martinez

Type: Mezcal Joven (unaged), artisanal / traditional; sometimes noted as technically an ensamble due to minor inclusions in some batches Agave Type: Primarily Espadín Capón (Agave angustifolia Haw, ca…

$130
Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Azul

Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Azul

This batch of Azul (a. Tequilana Weber) was distilled by maestro mezcalero couple Atelo Ramirez and Laura Arriaga in the town of Reyes Metzontla, Puebla. On a road-trip to Laura's native state of More…

$160
Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Azul y Papalome

Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Azul y Papalome

A classic ensamble that mixes the refined flavors of cultivated agave Azul (a. Tequilana Weber) along with intense notes of wild agave Papalome (a. Potatorum), this batch was distilled by maestro mezc…

$160
Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Blanco

Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Blanco

Delfino Tobón Mejía of San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Puebla refers to the massive agaves that this batch was distilled from as Blanco, and this batch was his first attempt at fermenting and distilling this s…

$160
Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Pizorra

Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Pizorra

This batch of agave Pizorra (a. Marmorata) was distilled by maestro mezcalero Delfino Tobón Mejía in his hometown of San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Puebla. Along with friends and family members, Delfino wild-…

$160
Off Premise Batch Cinco Sentidos Arroqueno [Was $150]

Off Premise Batch Cinco Sentidos Arroqueno [Was $150]

This small batch of Arroqueño is the first time that Cinco Sentidos has bottled a spirit made by Andrés “Andresón” Jarquín, who is the father-in-law of young mezcalero Eduardo “Lalo” Pérez. Andrés roa…

$120
Cinco Sentidos Espadín Puntas, Eduardo 'Lalo' Perez Cortez

Cinco Sentidos Espadín Puntas, Eduardo 'Lalo' Perez Cortez

Type: Mezcal Joven (unaged), artisanal / traditional; high-proof puntas (first cut/heads of the distillation) Agave Type: Espadín (Agave angustifolia Haw); typically 10-year-old mature plants Producer…

$130
Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Papalome

Cinco Sentidos La colección Mixteca Edition 4--Papalome

This batch of Papalome was distilled entirely from wild-harvested agave by husband and wife mezcalero duo Atelo Ramirez and Laura Arriaga in Los Reyes Metzontla, Puebla. Atelo harvested 263 Papalome p…

$160
Cinco Sentidos Pechuga De Mole Poblano Delfino Tobon Mejia 95.8 Proof

Cinco Sentidos Pechuga De Mole Poblano Delfino Tobon Mejia 95.8 Proof

This exceptionally unique spirit is produced by Delfino Tobón Mejía in San Pablo Ameyaltepec, Puebla. The base for this remarkable Pechuga is wild Papalote (agave potatorum), harvested at peak maturit…

$150