CURRENT RELEASE: ENS/LEC/SOT/03102023

Mezcalero: Dolores González Torres
Maguey: 60% Agave shrevei and 40% Dasilirion
Hydrolysis / Cooking: Underground conical oven (heat source: wood)
Extraction: Mallet and axe by hand in stone basin
Ferment: Stone and clay, ambient yeast, with spring water
Distill: 2x tren still (wood, steel with copper condenser)

 

Cumbrita de la Sierra is a 100% single producer owned brand from Batopilas, Chihuahua, Mexico. The Maestro, Dolores González is a third generation of producer in his family, and one of a handful who are still producing Lechuguilla in the region; His vinata is located a few hours from the town of Batopilas in a rancho called Yierbaniz.

Batopilas means “encased river” in the Rarámuri language, and is located at the bottom of the famous Copper Canyon, in the Sierra Tarahumara. The area was once a very important mining town (it was the second place in Mexico, after Mexico City to get electricity) and it is likely that Lechuguilla production is a vestige of the mining past, as is so common with other agave distillates throughout Mexico.

In this region the word “Lechuguilla” refers both to the plant, and the drink distilled from it. The agave used is Agave shrevei, although there does appear to be a lot of morphological variation and we may eventually find out that there are a couple different species being used. Dolores will on occasion add a couple piñas of sotol (a species of Dasylirion) or Chawi (Agave multifilifera) to the fermentations as well, but this is quite uncommon.

The Agave grows about 1000 meters above Batopilas, on the summits of the cliffs of the Copper Canyon (hence the name - Cumbrita de la Sierra - Summit of the Mountain). The producers will travel up and out of the canyon with horses and donkeys, staying in the mountains for days on end while they cut and haul the Lechuguilla back to the Vinata. The agave is cooked in a stone and earth underground conical oven, fired by oak wood and covered with pine needle duff. Once cooked, the Lechuguilla is smashed in a stone basin by hand using an ax and a wooden mallet which is locally referred to as “Pezon” (nipple). The mash is fermented using spring water in a stone and clay basin; The spring which supplies the water for the vinata also supplies the water for the 4 or so families that live in the Yierbaniz, and much care is put into keeping it clean. The water pours from a small cave, after filtering through the walls of the Copper Canyon, and the inhabitants have built a small clay wall to retain enough to siphon / pump. Dolores says a giant snake protects the water, and if it were to ever be harmed, the spring would dry up (this is common story, heard throughout many parts of Mexico). One fascinating thing that was mentioned to me when I was inquiring into what various factors cause the batches to change in taste from batch to batch, aside from the common themes of fermentation temperature, soil type, etc was the spring water; Dolores mentioned that the flavor of the spring changes with the seasons; as the rain falls high up in the canyon, it filters through different trees and plants who will be flowering or producing pollen at different times of the year, each adding their own unique aspect to water.

Once the fermentation is ready, the Lechuguilla is distilled in a very beautiful, and entirely unique still referred to as “Tren” perhaps due to the train-whistle shape of the top part of the still. The bottom pot (Tambo) - where the ferment (Huatari) is added is stainless steel, on top of that sits a wooden ring called the “Ollada” which is used as a buffer between the bottom pot and the “Barril” which is the top chamber of the still; both the Ollada and Barríl are made from Encino (Oak); the Ollada has a sort of inverted bowl with a small hole for evaporation carved into the top of it, on which sits the inverted copper Caso (condensation pot) - the vapors rise through the small opening in the Barril, hit the Caso, condense and fall back onto the inverted wooden bowl, where they drain through a small escape hole.