Del Maguey Las Milpas

Las Milpas means the cornfields, and the palenque sits among them in a remote mountain village at 1,700 meters above the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, reached by a dirt road across rockface. Anastacio Cruz Antonio and his sons Rigoberto, Abel and Pedro make it.

What sets it apart is the oven: an horno carved directly into the granite hillside rather than dug as an earth pit, where espadin of eight to ten years roasts for four days over encino. Spring water, wild-yeast fermentation of seven to ten days, then double distillation in copper. Tropical fruit and citrus over slate and minerals, with rose petal, lavender, tarragon and a note of sweet corn, finishing long and dry. Released in 2020.

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ABV 46% | 750ml | Mexico