Mezcalero 21 tasting notes
An otherworldly nose doesn’t stand in the way of complete mezcal experience. Details • Location: San Luis del Rio • Agave: Ensemble of Cirial, Tepextate, and Tobala
Mezcalero 19 tasting notes
Intro A really fun ensemble in the Mezcalero line that has some exceptional flavor gyrations. Details Location: San Luis del Rio Agaves: Cirial and espadin Maestro Mezcalero: Don Baltazar Cruz Gonzales ABV: 47.8% Distilled March 2015, released 2017 500 liters produced (666
Mezcalero Special Bottling #3 tasting notes
Intro The Mezcalero series just keeps on rolling forward with amazing finds from across Oaxaca. These are all micro releases the way things used to be done so if you get a chance, don't pass it up. Details Location: San Juan del
Mezcalero #18 tasting notes
Ansley Coale at Craft Distillers continues a stellar run of small batch releases with the Mescalero #18. This is a mix of Bicuixe, Madrecuixe, Mexicano, and Espadín from the Miahuatlan area. Don Valente is the maestro mezcalero behind this bottle
You buried my mezcal in shit?
In goat shit, to be precise. Take a look at the video below where Craft Distillers' Ansley Coale introduces Mezcalero Special #4 with the full story on how you pull great aging characteristics from mezcal. It's a blend of espadín and wild bicuixe but it's also aged for six months in a pile of goat shit which, he claims, contributes to the balance in the mezcal. That's a tradition that I've seen in Michoacan and always thought was just an easy way of keeping the mezcal out of people's hands and out of the light so that it could rest but Ansley mentions another potential factor, heat generated from the manure.
Mexico in a Bottle DC – kicking off 2017
[caption id="attachment_5862" align="aligncenter" width="450"]
The Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C.[/caption]
In the spirit of transparency, here's some background on how the whole idea of how Mexico in a Bottle - Washington, D.C. came about: DC is my hometown, but now, my immediate family lives with me on the West Coast. I miss DC, I miss my friends, and I really needed to come up with a reason to visit. Then there was a random meeting and conversation I had with Pati Jinich, the terrific Mexican chef, culinary anthropologist, and resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute in DC. She told me that the Mexican culinary scene in Washington was growing. A seed was planted and I told Max that DC needed to be on our shortlist of event cities for 2017.
Tasting Notes: Mezcalero #17
The latest in Craft Distillers’ Mezcalero line which delivers extremely small production batches from a variety of locations around Oaxaca.
The details:
- Location: San Baltazar Guélavila
- Agave: Cultivated espadín and agave de lumbre
- Maestro Mescalero: Cirilo Hernández
- Quantity: 184 cases / 1104 bottles
- Distillation Date: March 2014
- Bottled: June 2015.
- ABV: 48%
- NOM: O14X
The background:
These are the sort of one off distillations that used to define mezcal so this series is something of a relic of another era and testament to all the riches that remain. As I’ve said before, the mere existence of Mezcalero is fantastic, the fact that they continue to produce such high quality mezcals so consistently is even better.Tasting Notes: Mezcalero Special Bottling No. 2
This is the second in Craft Distillers' Special Bottling series. First came the Mezcalero series, then this. The quality is amazing.
The details:
- Location: Santa María La Pila, Mihuatlán, Oaxaca
- Agave: Dobadaan aka agave rhodacantha
- Maestro Mezcalero: Don Valente Ángel García Juárez
- Quantity: 768 bottles
- Distillation Date: October -November 2012
- Bottled: March 2016
- ABV: 48.76%
- NOM: O14X
Background:
You can taste continuity in this bottle.Tasting Notes: Mezcalero #15
The latest bottle in Craft Distillers' stellar Mezcalero series of small batch mezcals is out and it's quite a marvel. First the details:
- Location: San Luis del Rio, Tlacolula
- Agave: Sierra Negra
- Maestro Mezcalero:Don Baltazar Cruz Gomez
- Distillation Date: October 2014
- Bottle Date: October 2015
- Quantity: 188 cases (846 liters / 1128 bottles)
- ABV: 47.23%
Looking at the world of mezcal
Craft Distillers, the Ukiah based distributor of well known and loved brands like Alipus, Mezcalero, and Los Nahuales has launched quite an impressive series of blog posts that dig deeply into everything that goes into their mezcals. They start with this