Agua del Sol

As their project has expanded the mezcal landscape has changed. They’re adapting and helping with that change by adding Agua del Sol to present tiny batches of mezcal to the world. The first two come from maestra Berta Vasquez and the maestro that really inspired the CUISH project, Francisco Garcia Leon. Those two also produce for CUISH’s eponymously named house brand, the major differences between CUISH and Agua del Sol are certification, production, and local ownership. Agua del Sol will only be selling very small batches, these non certified first two are of 300 and 600 liters, and – while CUISH owns the project – it works with the mezcaleros to ensure a continuity of cultural ownership by keeping some of the production local and to distribute profits.

The brand’s name emerges from and highlights the cultural continuity in mezcal. Correa says that the “name evokes a story about a “Magician of the hills,” a poem/song, about an old master of mezcal that transforms in magic, with patience the sun that for a long time was contend in the agave. That magic beverage is the water of the sun.” That spirit extends to everything in how Agua del Sol operates. They don’t have production contracts and just buy what maestros want to sell. They hold some back for local consumption, a key consideration for them because, as mezcal has become so popular and profitable as an export product, it can be prohibitively expensive for Oaxacans to afford their own spirits.

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Mezcalistas coverage:

Agua del Sol: Bottling the Magic