Tepanal Ancestral Espadin Capon

48.6% ABV

Mezcal from Sola de Vega in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca. Sola de Vega, along with the village of Santa Catarina Minas, are 2 of the best known places for "Ancestral" Mezcal production. This is the most traditional, ancient method of mezcal distillation that involves mashing the cooked agaves by hand with wooden mallets and distillation in "barro de olla" clay pot stills. This particular batch of Espadin Capòn does not meet the standard of Ancestral as the roasted agaves were crushed with an electric mill. Maestro Rafael García Aragon harvests 7-9 year old Espadin agaves that were left "capòn" in the field for up to 1 year. When agaves are fully mature, they begin the flowering process and sprout a "quiote" or flowering stalk. If allowed to fully flower, the agave sends all of it's sugars to the stalk, leaving the piña or heart of the agave useless for Mezcal production. Capòn is the process of castrating the plant by cutting the quiote early on and leaving the agave in the ground. This secondary maturation in the field allows the agave to develop some secondary flavors and aromas once it's fermented and distilled.

The agaves are pit roasted in a conical oven and crushed with a mechanical mill. The mash is fermented with spring water and ambient yeasts in wooden "tinas" or open top Montezuma cypress vats. It is double distilled in clay pots and the alcohol is adjusted with "puntas y colas" or the heads and tails of the distillation.