Koch Elemental Mezcal Espadin

Koch Elemental Mezcal Espadin is an Oaxacan mezcal built entirely from Espadin, the cultivated A. angustifolia that gives mezcal its balanced, approachable backbone. It comes from Koch El Mezcal de Oaxaca, the house Carlos Moreno founded in 2009 with fifth generation mezcalero Pedro Hernandez; the collective now draws on more than fifteen communities and fifty producing families, so each batch varies a little.

Production follows the artesanal pattern: the agave is cooked four days in a conical stone oven, crushed with a tahona, the stone wheel cut from volcanic rock, then fermented six to eight days in open wooden vats and double distilled in a 350 litre copper still. The aroma leans into sweet smoke with ripe fruit, herbs, mint and a touch of pineapple, while the palate brings ripe peach and cinnamon with a hint of white pepper. Bottled at 40 percent.