Bozal Mezcal Tobasiche

Bozal bottles its single maguey mezcals from individual wild agaves, and this one is Tobaziche, a form of the Agave karwinskii complex that takes twelve to thirteen years to mature and reads green, cedary and earthy on the finish. It is an artesanal joven, gathered from the wild hillsides that give the brand its name, meaning untamed, and bottled to show the species undiluted.

Following methods two centuries old, the agave hearts are roasted in earthen pit ovens and then crushed with a stone tahona turned by two oxen. Fermentation runs in the open air with no added yeast, the sugars converting on naturally occurring wild strains, and the spirit is twice distilled. The profile stays soft and complex: floral and herbal aromatics with a little smoke, then minerality, pepper, gentle sweetness, earth, a cashew note and fruit. Bottled at 47%.