Our tasting included:
Heart of the Maguey
This flight highlights how different agave varietals create different flavors. It consists of three spirits made the same way by the same maestro mezcalero, using three different agaves. The maestro is Eduardo Angeles of Santa Catarina Minas. Eduardo roasts his agave in a stone-lined earthen oven before milling it by hand using wooden mallets; the milled agave is then fermented in open-air wooden barrels before being distilled in wood-fired clay pot stills.
Hand of the Maestro
This flight highlights how the decisions of the maestros mezcalero create different flavors from the same agave. It consists of three spirits made the same way using the same tools in the same community by three different maestros mezcalero. Papalome (agave potatorum) takes between 8 and 15 years to mature. I have included here three papalome expressions by three different maestros, each using the same palenque in Santa Maria Ixcatlan, Oaxaca. In each case, the agave is roasted in a stone-lined earthen oven, milled by hand using wooden mallets, fermented open-air in bull skins, and distilled in clay pots over an open fire. Exact same process, exact same tools, different maestros.
Harvest of the Moment
This flight highlights how agave spirits reflect a moment in time and of place. It consists of three spirits made the same way using the same agave by the same maestro mezcalero, but at three different points in time. Maestro Victor Ramos of Miahuatlan, Oaxaca, used tobala (agave potatorum) to make each of these three spirits In each case, the tobala is roasted in a stone-lined earthen oven, milled by a stone wheel pulled by oxen, fermented open-air in wooden barrels, and distilled in copper pots over an open fire. Exact same process, exact same tools, exact same maestro, at three different times: November 2015, March 2016, March 2017.
