Del Maguey Wild Papalome Mezcal

Del Maguey Wild Papalome belongs to the house's small Vino de Mezcal series, a joven made entirely from wild Papalometl, the local name for Agave Cupreata, whose broad leaves recall butterfly wings. It comes from Teozacoalco, a hard to reach village in western Oaxaca reached only after hours on stony mountain roads, where Fernando Caballero Cruz works the agave.
Cupreata reads earthy and fruity, and here the pit roasted hearts give a heavy, spiced nose of leather, black olive and clay, with a medium finish of dark cherry and fresh soil. Distillation runs through a steel tank fitted with bamboo tubing, an unusual rig that keeps the spirit raw and full. Bottled unaged at 45 percent, it shows the wild agave and its mountain terroir without barrel cover.