Mezcal San Cosme Artesano Edición Vol. IV Tepeztate

The fourth Artesano edition from Mezcal San Cosme is built entirely from Tepeztate, the wild Agave marmorata that can take well over a decade to mature before the heart is ready. Bottled as a joven at 51%, it foregrounds the species rather than any barrel, and it sits in the artesanal tradition the San Cosme Artesano line was created to honour, each release dedicated to a single wild maguey and its character.

The agave hearts are harvested by hand, roasted gently in an underground pit and milled by hand before traditional distillation, the slow old method the producer traces back more than two centuries. That pit roasting brings restrained wood smoke and a savoury edge, while Tepeztate supplies its hallmark herbal, green pepper and floral intensity. The palate runs spicy and fresh with menthol, camphor and ripe pineapple, threaded with clove and cinnamon and a faint trace of raw cane sugar on the close.