Zignum Mezcal Añejo

Zignum Añejo comes from Casa Armando Guillermo Prieto in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, one of the larger and more modern producers in the state. Its method sits closer to tequila than to most mezcal, since the agave is steam cooked in an autoclave instead of roasted in an underground pit. That choice is deliberate and means this carries cooked agave sweetness without the ember and ash of pit roasted mezcal.

The spirit is then aged eighteen months across new French oak and American oak, which gives it robust wood aromatics and a long bouquet. The palate runs to coffee, chocolate and maple syrup, with the casks adding caramel, vanilla and toasted oak weight over the agave. Bottled at 40%, it reads as a soft, accessible, wood led interpretation aimed at drinkers coming to mezcal from aged spirits.