Palenqueros Mexicano - Onofre Ortiz

47.9% ABV

Palenqueros is a project from Luca Gargano of La Maison & Velier, Paris based importers of phenomenal spirits including Rum, Armagnac, Cognac, and Whisky. A "Palenque" is a Mezcal distillery and this project is meant to highlight the work of various Maestros or "Palenqueros" from all over Oaxaca. There are photos of the individual Maestros on the front label of each release. 

Onofre Ortiz is a 5th generation Master Distiller in the village of Barmaderos in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. He produces an Espadin for a brand called Puntiagudo which we use for cocktails at the bar next door. Cultivated Mexicano (Agave Rhodacantha) are cooked in an 11 ton rock-lined earthen pit prior to crushing it by hand with wooden mallets in a stone canoe. It ferments with only ambient yeast and spring water in pine vats for 7 days prior to double distillation in copper alembic stills. 

On the nose it is floral, flinty with some soft smoke. On the palate it is intensely floral with violets, earth, and mellow acidity. It has a long and complex finish of a pleasant potpourri, wood smoke, and agave sweetness.