48.4% ABV

One of our favorite agave varietals! We love the herbaceousness and singular yet indescribable fruit character that it has. This is a particularly wonderful example as it has the expressive nose and fruit character combined with an earthy depth. Made by Maestro Daniel Cruz Maldonado in the traditional method in the village of Logoche in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca in 2023.

Producer Notes:

Carefully crafted and extremely expressive of the region, this 100% Tepextate batch was made with wild maguey gathered from rocky, red and purple earthen parcels of eastern Miahuatlan. This low-yielding species is highly prized for its distinctive herbaceous flavors and aromas. 

About NETA Spirits:

We have always felt a special connection to NETA because we were the first bar to ever purchase and pour their spirits way back in 2012. Founder Max Rosenstock was introduced to us through a regular customer of ours and he brought us some of the fabulous spirits that would eventually become his brand to taste and see what we thought. It was love at first sight. We have proudly poured his stuff ever since.

NETA works closely with over twenty small, family producers from the southern valleys and hills of Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, many of whom are members of the cooperative Grupo Productor Logoche. Situated at the southern tip of the Central Valleys and the foot of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains, the area is renowned for the strong character of its people, its diverse landscapes, and the rich agricultural and culinary traditions that have been maintained throughout generations. As such, the region has preserved its reputation for producing some of the finest spirits in Mexico.

The recipes and knowledge have been passed down and shared through family and community ties. Some mezcaleros follow their grandfathers’ traditions to the letter, while others experiment to carefully fine-tune the laborious process in accordance with their own tastes, observations, and relationships with the natural world. No two productions can ever be exactly the same as environmental conditions, water, natural yeasts, and soil types all contribute to their nuances just as much as the touch of their maker.

Since 2012, our friendships and working relationships with families in rural communities across Miahuatlán have granted us participation in a world elusive to those not born into it. It is this humbling privilege that allows us to present a carefully curated selection of extraordinary spirits that would otherwise never be found outside of their place of origin. Así es, la mera mera NETA.

Traditional single-batch agave spirits

NETA exclusively commercializes single-batch agave spirits from producers in Miahuatlán and almost entirely from the 110-person village of Logoche. When talking about "single batches" we are referring to lots produced from a single oven or harvest of agave. The process of crafting these batches begins with the harvest of mature en guía or capón plants, often of various species or types of agave around the time of the full moon, that are then cooked together in a conical earthen pit. The roasted agave hearts or piñas are then either separated and designated for multiple smaller batches, or macerated and fermented together in their entirety to make a single batch. In accordance with traditional practices, the spirits produced from different ovens are not blended, homogenized, or standardized to a particular ABV. Each production is unique and bottled at still-strength by members and family members of the co-op and the quantity produced is relative to the number of agave cooked in an oven and their respective yield. Agave spirits are agricultural products, and the quantities of production should reasonably reflect the availability of local resources.