Mezcal Sunday mezcal list

Sunday, August 16

Thanks so much for participating in the mezcal room’s collaboration with Vomiting Lizards Bakery! Here’s a bit more information about the featured agave spirits — feel free to email hello@mezcal.nyc if you’d like even more details or have any questions.

We’ll be announcing one or two dates for our next Zoom mezcal tastings in the coming weeks, if you’d be interested in joining for a more structured and in-depth event. Thanks again for your support!

Galloping Warlocks of Doom

Our all-Oaxaca flight, featuring three near-legendary producers (a claim we don’t make lightly!). Here you’ve got a blend of madrecuixe and bicuixe (two subvarieties of the species Agave karwinskii) from Victor Ramos of Mengoli de Morelos, Miahuatlan, Oaxaca; tripon (yet another Agave karwinskii subvariety) from Felix Angeles of Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca; and madrecuixe from Valente Garcia of Santa Maria la Pila, Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. All three batches are noncommercial releases collected during our travels.

As with all the other mezcals featured today, the agave hearts were roasted in earthen ovens, and in this case, all three mezcals are made with the same species of agave, the treelike, low-sugar karwinskii variety, which often has a certain green/woodsy/earthy quality to it. The Victor Ramos and Valente Garcia mezcals, from the southern Miahuatlan region, are distilled in copper stills and showcase the minerality typical of the region. The tripon from Felix Angeles, as is typical of spirits from Santa Catarina Minas, was distilled in clay-pot stills.

Night of the Hydra

A showcase of regional and cultural variation and biodiversity. Here you have tobala (Agave potatorum) from Fortunato Hernandez of San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca, aged with scorpions caught on the Hernandez family’s property; alto (Agave inaequidens) from Jorge Perez of Rio de Parras, Michoacan, aged in glass with a whole rattlesnake; and espadilla (Agave angustifolia) from Marcelo Luna of Zoyatla, Puebla, distilled with cooked chicken and mole poblano and bottled by Cinco Sentidos. (The other two are noncommercial batches.)

The differences among these spirits are major, and not only because one animal has eight legs, another has two and the last has none. You’ve got three different Mexican states (Oaxaca, Michoacan, and Puebla), three different agave varieties, and even three different types of still (a copper pot still for Fortunato Hernandez, a copper and wood “filipino” still for Jorge Perez, and a hybrid filipino still for Marcelo Luna). There are also, most likely, major differences in regional fermentation chemistry that are partly responsible for the breadth of flavors. (It’s also worth noting that, traditionally, the scorpion and snake mezcals would be used for medicinal purposes, while “pechuga”-style mezcals like the one from Puebla are associated with celebrations and festivals.)

Ozymandias’ Hand Clutching Your Ankle

Three noteworthy vintage batches from three famous brands: 2004 espadin capon from Jose Santiago Lopez, a limited edition bottled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mezcales Cuish; 2009 espadin from Celso Luis Santiago, bottled by El Jolgorio; and 2008 espadin from the late Lorenzo Angeles Mendoza of Real Minero.

All of these mezcals are made from the same agave variety — espadin (Agave angustifolia), the most widely cultivated variety used for mezcal, and they also serve to demonstrate how elegant the best mezcals made from this “common” variety can be. But there are certain divergences in terms of production process and other details.

The Cuish 2004 is notable because, in addition to being an anniversary batch rested in glass for 15 years (an eternity by mezcal standards), it is made from espadins that were “capon” — plants that were “castrated” by having their reproductive stalks cut when they reached maturity, resulting in greater ripeness. The 2009 El Jolgorio espadin is a particularly well-known batch from the enigmatic Don Celso, demonstrating the depth and nuance — with additional roundness from age — that he brings to his current releases under the brand La Medida. And the 2008 espadin from Real Minero has a different profile as a result of being distilled in clay pots in Santa Catarina Minas, in addition to being made by the great Don Lorenzo, who died in 2016.