Mezcal Amarás Americana

Mezcal Amaras Americana is a joven mezcal from Oaxaca built on the Americana agave family, the group that includes Arroqueño, Sierrudo, Sierra Negra and Coyote. Rather than wild-harvest these giants, Amaras has planted Agave americana on its own fields, which is notable for a species once taken almost entirely from the wild. The house places this bottling at A2 on its internal scale, toward the floral and sweet end.

Grown on the stony soils of the Tlacolula region, these plants reach up to 100 kilos and are harvested at roughly eight to ten years. The hearts are cooked traditionally in earthen ovens over wood fire and twice distilled by hand in Oaxaca, with Amaras replanting wild agave for every plant taken. The nose is complex, with delicate herbs and a clear, pleasant smoke alongside ripe plum sweetness and earthy soil. The palate is full, with a soft baked-banana sweetness, fresh citrus and an easy spice. At 41% it sits gently.