del Maguey Mezcal Barril Single Village Santa Catarina Minas

This special edition from our Vino De Mezcal series is made from semi-wild maguey Barril and is dedicated to the remarkable talent of Florencio, “Don Lencho” Laureano Carlos Sarmiento, our eighty-year old master palenquero. Barril are the biggest, fattest of the Tobasiche, Madrecuishe, Cirial, Larga family. The magueys were roasted in a conical pit over hot rocks, buried under a cap of earth for three days, fermented with nothing but airborne microbes for thirty days, then twice distilled very slowly in an ancient style clay still with bamboo tubing, the centuries-old Oaxacan organic, hand-crafted way. A spicy floral nose of carnation, tropical aromatics of gardenia and jasmine, ripe pear, dark fig, notes of wet green hay and forest floor. Enters the mouth like a caramel, and is round, soft and gentle, full-bodied, with a big middle palate. The long finish tastes of roasted root vegetables and umami, leaving the mouth with terracotta, a slate-like minerality and a touch of salinity.