Ixcateco Papalome

44.6% ABV

Ancestral Mezcal from Santa Maria Ixcatlan, a remote indigenous community in a Biosphere Reserve about 3.5 hours north of Oaxaca City. Their website tells the remarkable history of their people and land and is definitely worth a look. Made from Papalome (Agave Potatorum) that is pit roasted and then mashed with machetes and wooden mallets. It is then mixed with spring water in fermentation vessels made from cow hides. Finally it is double distilled in clay pots. Although this is an uncertified agave spirit, it meets all of the other requirements to be considered an Ancestral Mezcal as everything is done by hand and production uses only the most ancient methods.

On the nose, there is a bit of agricultural funk (perhaps from the cow hide fermenters) with notes of ripe agave. On the palate it is soft and supple with notes of pastry sweetness, pepper and citrus.