Pescador de Sueños Mezcal Madrecuishe

A joven mezcal from 100% Madrecuixe, a tall form of Agave karwinskii prized for its dry, mineral, herbaceous character. It is made by mezcalero Felipe Cortes, whose palenque sits on the edge of Santiago Matatlan in Oaxaca, the town that calls itself the world capital of mezcal. Cortes also distils for Mezcalosfera and Mal Bien, and this release comes from the Santa Sabia project Pescador de Sueños, which works in very small lots of scarce wild agave.

The piñas are roasted in a conical stone pit, then milled in a traditional mill, which carries roasting smoke and earth into the spirit. Fermentation runs in juniper wood vats before double distillation in copper. The result reads earthy and lightly smoky, with flint and wet stone, a thread of brown sugar and a crisp apple note, the mineral, savoury signature of the karwinskii family bottled at 48% in stoneware.