Real Minero Pechuga Mezcal

Real Minero Pechuga is a joven mezcal and the high point of the house range, made from Espadin at Santa Catarina Minas in Oaxaca, the clay pot heartland of mezcal. A pechuga is a destilado, traditionally made for celebrations such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, and this 350 ml bottling brings that festive third distillation within reach.
The Espadin is baked in an earthen pit with oak and mesquite, hand crushed with wooden mallets in a stone trough, and fermented with wild yeast in oak and pine. After a double distillation in 80 litre clay pot stills, the spirit is run a third time with fruit, banana, almond, pineapple, raisin and wild apple, plus spices, while a raw chicken breast hangs in the still head. The meat adds nothing meaty, lending a silky texture and rounding the whole, with the fruit and spice giving aromatic lift. Expect fresh fruit and pastry on the nose, fruit, spice, light smoke and umami on the palate, all at 53.1%.