Details
- Agave Location: Santa Maria Zoquitlan, Oaxaca
- Palenque Location: Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca
- Agave: Wild Tepextate / A. marmorata
- Maestro Mezcalero: Celso Martínez López
- Quantity: 300 liters / 400 bottles
- ABV: 46%
- Tasting keywords: Grape, pine, sage
- NOM: O349X
- Buy it today – Allocated to California.
Nose
Ethereal notes of rich roasted agave.
Taste
It doesn’t overwhelm you but opens like a drive through the desert night. There are bits of mesquite and pine resin and even a pinch of ripe Bronx grape.
Method/Background Notes
La Jicarita’s approach to mezcal is something of a middle road in the world of mezcal brands. The US importers, Frijolotes LLC which is Fred Baptista and Hyun Young, work with mezcalero Celso Martínez López and bring in batches of mezcal with an incredible price to quality ratio: It’s absolutely insane that their pechuga is priced at $60!
In a rather unique arrangement, Don Celso owns the brand while Frijolotes have a window to work with him exclusively so interests should be aligned for organic growth. In the meantime Don Celso continues to produce mezcal for other brands, especially pechugas for which he is justifiably well known.
This batch has a touch of the biblical narrative. It’s made from wild tepeztate harvested in Santa Maria Zoquitlan. They think that the agaves were 18 to 30 years old which goes along with the 30 days that it took to make. It’s classed as artisanal: It was roasted underground for three days with pino and mesquite, crushed with a horse drawn tahona, wild fermented for ten days in 1,000 liter open air pine tinas, and double distilled in a copper alembic still.
Leave a Comment