Mezcal Palomo Espadín Destilado con Café

Mezcal Palomo Destilado con Cafe is made by mezcalero Carlos Mendez Blas in Santiago Matatlan, the central valleys town that calls itself the world capital of mezcal. It is built on 100% Espadin harvested at around nine years near Matatlan, registered under the Del Buen Agave collective that has worked together since 1930.

The agave is quartered with axes and roasted underground over a mix of pine and mostly oak for five days, then chopped and crushed with a horse drawn stone tahona. Fermentation is natural in long used wooden tinas with ambient yeast, and the fibres stay in through the first distillation to deepen the agave flavour before a second pass in copper stills. A third distillation follows a four week maceration with Oaxacan coffee beans the maker's grandmother roasts herself, lending fine coffee aromas and a bittersweet, mild palate. Bottled at 46% with a long finish.