Mezcal, Destilado Con Hierba Santa, Salvadores

• Mezcal distilled with hierba santa (Piper auritum) 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 • Fresh hoja santa is added directly to the mezcal during the second distillation • 45.2% ABV Hierba santa, meaning “sacred herb,” has several other familiar names, such as hoja santa (holy leaf), root beer plant, and Mexican pepperleaf. A spade-shaped leafy green herb, it is widely used in cooking across southern and central Mexico—mixed into breakfast eggs, soups and broths, and (maybe most notably) traditional mole verde. For many, its distinct aroma immediately and intensely evokes the cuisine of Oaxaca and Puebla. It’s potent stuff; a little goes a long way. To create this mezcal, Flavio and Salvador harvest the entire plant—from stem to leaf—grown in the yard at their own palenque. Four to five fresh stalks are added per 300 liters of mezcal and dropped directly into the cooking mezcal during the second distillation, as though creating a traditional broth from the spirit. Transportive and unmistakable!