r/Mezcal

There are people who make us feel at home through their mezcal.
Maestra Mezcalera Berta Vásquez, from San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca, has the remarkable ability to make you experience her warmth long before you taste her mezcal. It is one of her greatest virtues. Her smile, her hospitality, and the way she sees life reflect the spirit of Oaxaca’s mezcal-producing families.
Sharing mezcal is never just about the mezcal itself. When a friendship has been nurtured over many years, it becomes about sharing stories, traditions, meals, and laughter. The true heart of mezcal lives in the people who have dedicated their lives to preserving this legacy, and that is exactly what you experience with every visit.
We will always be grateful to Berta for opening the doors of her home and welcoming us as part of her family.

Mixteca oaxaqueña

Mezcalero: Simeon Ramirez
Agave: karwinskii sub species
Locale: San Agustín Amatengo, Oaxaca
Date: July 2022
Mill: machete and mechanical mill
Ferment: 8 days in cypress
Distillation: clay pot y refrescadera
Batch: 100L
ABV: 50.2

This is one of those that remind you why agave spirits are the best spirits

Nose: deciduous, pine resin, maybe spruce, some sea breeze, whole tellicherry peppercorns, neoprene?, the faintest wisp of smoke, roasted agave

Palate: complex, lovely heat, sweet fig, cooked agave, butterscotch, pesticidal, dark skinned stone fruit, earthy, wet moss

Finish: cinnamon, salty marigold, numbing and dry

Rating: 7.7/10

This is a plot we have been working for over a decade to replenish the wild population in our lands.

Freed up some shelf space on my mini mezcaleria. Looking to add more amazing mezcal, tequila, raicilla, bacanora and sotol to the lineup. Any producers and regions you’ve been reaching for lately?

Here is a photo of the label. I was so looking forward to sipping on this when I got home, only for me to notice that my entire luggage bag was wet and smelled of agave spirit. Like my bottle, I was crushed. A sinking feeling hit as I went to go check, and my worst fear was confirmed. Even though united airlines compensated me for the bottle, I cant find it anywhere in the USA, not even online. If anyone knows how I can get a replacement, could you let me know? I'm heart broken.

I’m a bourbon intermediate, mezcal novice. Had this in a mezcal bar on a recent fun trip and got an earful about it from the server. This was 3 months ago. I was not yet experienced enough to have many thoughts about it, have gained a little more insight since. Curious to learn what the room thinks of this one.

Picked up this beauty at SF Costco this weekend.
Great example of Cuishe. Did need to decant it a bit as the neck pour had a sharp ethanol note to it. Once it opened up it was a great Cuishe - earthy with bell peppers, cloves and a little bit of fruit.

Last I checked there was stock in SF, RWC, San Leandro and Novato. YMMV.

This mezcal was procured by a friend prior to a recent trip I made to Oaxaca where I picked it up, and to him, I am very grateful. Signed, the bottle shares in handwriting that it is 49 percent, and the ensemble is as described below.

Mezcalero: Shonga
Locale: Santa Catarina Minas
Oven: conical, stone
Distillation: twice, clay pot
Agave: arroqueño, tepextate and jabali
Milled: by hand
Batch size: not known
ABV: per Shonga 49 but it has been measured higher :-)

Nose: floral, white pepper,

Palate: sweet, floral like a bouquet of flowers in the south, complex, minerality, earthy, slightly salty. some milk chocolate, steamed bok choy

Finish: soapy rocks but palatable, coating, lingering, some cinnamon

Rating: 8/10