El Jolgorio Mezcal Especial Chuparrosa

El Jolgorio is the rare line from Casa Cortes, the Oaxacan family house that reserves its black bottle Especial series for agaves that appear once a year if at all. This one is made from Chuparrosa, an uncategorised wild agave of the Agave americana group that grows in only a handful of villages, with perhaps a thousand living plants left, semi cultivated and left to mature five to seven years before harvest.
It comes from maestro mezcalero Hernan Cortes Franco at the El Portillo distillery in San Lorenzo Jilotepequillo, Santa Maria Ecatepec in Oaxaca, and is bottled joven to keep the scarce agave in front. The nose is fresh and herbal with citrus and menthol, and the palate runs spicy with ginger, anise and mint, staying dry across the mouth. At 50.1% the proof carries the herbal, mineral character of this little known maguey.