Mezcal, Destilado Con Elote, Salvadores

• Mezcal distilled with elote (corn) in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, at Casa Palacios (NOM 0654X) • Maestro Mezcalero Flavio Pérez Méndez • Made using 100% Espadín (Agave angustifolia) matured 8 years • Cooked in a conical earthen pit using Encino oak that has been certified as sustainably harvested • Milled by horse-drawn stone tahona • Fermented in traditional wooden vats (tinas) using well water • Distilled twice using an alembic copper pot still • Corn is oven-roasted before being husked then added whole directly to the mezcal during the second distillation • Gold medalist at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition • 48.9% ABV Mezcal distilled with corn (elote) is an art practiced by a rogue’s gallery of iconic maestro mezcaleros, but take one sip of Salvador and Flavio’s creation and you’ll understand why it’s become the flagship of their Destilado con Sabores lineup. Whole ears of corn—30 to 40 per 300-liter batch of mezcal—are sourced from local farmers in Magdalena Teitipac, Oaxaca. The corn is oven roasted slowly and carefully before being husked by hand and finally dropped whole into the cooking mezcal during the second distillation. The resulting spirit understandably comes out tasting fresh and buttery, like tea made from corn silk and creamed corn kernels.