Mezcal Amarás Reserva Especial Cenizo

Mezcal Amaras Reserva Especial Cenizo comes from the hills of Nombre de Dios, Durango, where the wild Cenizo agave, Agave durangensis, grows on rocky oak covered slopes and can reach fourteen years and an enormous size before harvest. It is a joven within the Reserva Especial range, classed A3 in the house nomenclature devised by maestra mezcalera Diana Orozco Cruz, where A marks an artesanal mezcal and the number grades sugar content, three sitting toward the drier, more herbal end.
Cenizo is pit roasted in the artesanal manner, fermented and distilled to keep its rugged northern character. Durango cenizo tends to be fruity and almost creamy with a burnt caramel edge picked up from its mesquite strewn terrain, and this one balances a fine thread of citrus against earthy roasting smoke. The palate is dominated by roasted coffee bean, with a finish of toasted wood and a sweet hint of raisin. Bottled at 46%.