Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal

Del Maguey Chichicapa is a single village mezcal from San Baltazar Chichicapam in Oaxaca, a community near 1600 metres elevation, made from Espadin. It belongs to the Del Maguey range that artist Ron Cooper founded in 1995, the brand that first named each mezcal for the village where it is made and built its reputation on individual family palenqueros working in the traditional way.

Fermented and distilled by hand by the village palenquero, this Espadin is roasted over the pit before copper distillation, giving the white smoke that threads through it. The character is bright fruit with a silky texture and unusual harmony, opening on citrus and mint, then white smoke, white chocolate and a hint of warm bread that carries far into the finish. Bottled unaged at 46 percent, it shows the agave and the village rather than any barrel.