Mezcal San Cosme Artesano Edición 03 Tobalá

This is Edición 03 in the San Cosme Artesano line, made entirely from wild Tobalá, Agave potatorum, a small high-altitude maguey that the producer notes takes a full sixteen years before it can be harvested. It is bottled in tiny runs, with this release limited to 1,100 bottles, and the Artesano editions are built around wild agaves and traditional methods worked by the house maestros.

The agave is baked in earthen pits lined with hot stones, fermented in stone vessels and crushed under a large millstone before distillation, with the pit roast giving the spirit its smoke. Tobalá shows its delicate, mineral fingerprint here, caramelised agave, molasses and caramelised butter on the nose with wild herbs, then a palate of soft mesquite smoke, acacia blossom, crisp apple and green pea over fresh minerality. The long finish turns to sweet lime. Bottled at 45%.