Destilado de Agave, 'Higo - Puebla,' Pal'alma

• Destilado de agave produced in Tepeojuma, Puebla, Mexico • Maestro Mezcalero Asunción Matilda Vargas • 100% Espadilla (Agave angustifolia) capón (castrated) for one year prior to harvest to concentrate sugars • Cooked in a traditional pit oven made of earth and stone • Milled by hand using an axe • Fermented in a shallow stone well • Distilled twice using a hybrid Filipino-style pot still of clay and wood with an external condenser made of copper (refrescadera)—honestly, a totally wild still • Fresh fig leaves and fresh figs, cut in half, are added to the second distillation • Rested nearly 6 years before bottling • 55% ABV (ABV may vary batch to batch) In 2018, during a visit to Denmark to present agave spirits in a tasting at Noma, Erick Rodriguez (Pal’alma) was served a glass of water that had been steeped with fresh fig leaves for three days. Figs had been a favorite fruit throughout Erick’s life—a fig tree grows outside his home in Ramos Millan Ixtacalco—but the use of the fresh leaf was new and compelling, a different way to understand the flavor of the plant. The impression of that experience consumed Erick after his return to Mexico, and upon his next collaborative visit with Maestro Mezcalero Asunción Matilda Vargas, they determined to create a mezcal to celebrate it. Rested nearly six years in glass, this batch is a deeply personal expression of sense memory.