Mezcal Salvadores Espadin Añejo

Mezcal Salvadores Espadin Añejo is a wood aged Oaxacan mezcal made from Espadin, the cultivated A. angustifolia that is the backbone agave of the central valleys. The brand belongs to the Pérez Méndez family of Tlacolula de Matamoros, whose mezcal roots reach to the early 1900s; they built the Casa Palacios distillery in 2019 and registered the Salvadores name in 2020. This is the rare aged tier of a house better known for joven Espadin.

The Espadin spends long enough in barrel to push the agave into the background and let cask character take the lead. Tasting runs very sweet and bakery led, with tiramisu, butterscotch and dulce de leche over an old wood, damp attic note, finishing on oak, cashew and a woody edge from the casks. Bottled at 42 percent, it shows what oak does to Tlacolula Espadin rather than the bright smoke of an unaged version.