Vecindad de Abel Benitez Agave Spirit Lineno

This is a destilado de agave rather than a mezcal, made by Abel Benitez in Las Canoas, Jalisco, from Lineno, a local name for Agave angustifolia, the same species behind classic espadin mezcal. Produced outside the mezcal denomination, it wears the honest destilado de agave label and is bottled joven at 46% so the cooked agave stays in front.

The maguey is taken to deep maturity by the capon method, the flowering quiote cut so sugars concentrate in the heart, then left two extra years in the field after ten years of growth. It is roasted in an underground pit oven, broken down by hand axe and a mechanical shredder, fermented in vats and double distilled in a Filipino style still. The result is gentle, with soft caramelised agave and a note of wet wood across a clean joven frame.