Mezcal Appreciation Society - October 2021

Hola! Thank you for taking a moment to read a few important updates…

Your physical deliveries:

Unless you don’t have a car or a television, you will probably be aware there’s something of a petrol crisis in the UK right now. This has coincided with us moving all our stock to a new fulfilment warehouse, and switching to a new courier company (DPD instead of UPS), which has brought plenty of teething problems of its own.

So we really appreciate you bearing with us through any hiccups this month. We know that some of you received an email last week from the new courier (DPD) informing you of a delivery coming on Wednesday last week - apologies if you did, that was not correct.

The October boxes are in fact being collected today (Monday 4th Oct). All being well, they will arrive to mainland UK addresses on Tuesday 5th. You should receive a delivery window by email from DPD (as well as an automated one from our squarespace system with your unique tracking number). Going forward it is our hope that DPD are better than UPS with their communication and ease of use if you need to adjust anything to do with your delivery… their pricing certainly indicates a premium service!

You will also notice that we’ve made an upgrade to the MAS delivery boxes. We really hope you like them and that everything goes smoothly this week. Of course if there’s any issue with your delivery just get in touch - you can reply to this email.

Top-Ups:

Top-Ups are back, and sold out for the online meet this Thursday! Everyone who topped-up should have received their extra samples already - please get in touch asap if you haven’t. It’s a massive box of treats this month, with 5x different samples from the palenque we’re visiting… so 7 different mezcales to taste in total including the main club batches. There’s also a surprise special guest joining the call this month. December Top-Ups will go on sale in early November (we’ll send a newsletter).

New members:

Thanks for joining us. This club is very boutique and as interactive as you want it to be. If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. If you’re on social media please like, share, etc. Social handles are at the end of this email.

But far better than social media, please just tell your friends - there’s rewards for introducing new members to the club. Share the code CVYCCLS for them to get 25% off their fist 2 months and we’ll also send you a present in the form of a rare and unreleased mezcal.

If you’re a complete beginner to agave spirits we recommend a quick read of our mezcal basics page. Also remember that you can check out the entire MAS Library of previous releases with the password MASMASMAS

The club emails:

We’re going to experiment with making these emails more brief in parts, starting now. That’s for multiple reasons: 1) there’s now quite a lot of info about each batch behind the QR code that’s printed directly on the club bottles, as well as the mezcal intro available online; 2) there’s a whole world of information already built up in the members library, which is available for reference at any time; 3) this is a journey of discovery and we need to make some space for the newest and most in-depth info rather than repeat what’s already in the library.

Please feel free to keep feeding back about this and anything else to do with the club format.

Discounts & Stock:

Your codes for a 25% members discount on 50cl bottles are at the end of this email along with our tasting notes. Remember they are valid until the next MAS delivery arrives (in 2 months) or until the extremely limited stock runs out.

On to the October batches… Salud!

San Luis Amatlán

A small apology - at the end of the August email we left a teaser hanging that this October delivery would include our first batch from Jalisco. Sorry but on assessment of stock levels as part of our recent warehouse move we made a couple of adjustments to the order of releases… that Jalisco batch is now coming your way in December.

In this delivery we are re-visiting San Luis Amatlán. We were last here in April, and early members may also remember the first visit in June 2020. The mezcal here is just so good we keep going back. Of course we’re always looking at different batches, and in this delivery we also introduce a new producer. Both batches are over 50% abv… hence the name of this edition “100 proof + in the fields of Miahuatlán”.

Amatlán info in the library…

For a detailed look at the region of Miahuatlán and its mezcal making pedigree, check out the April email.

For a detailed look at the style of production in Amatlán and the specific palenque your new batches are from, check out the email from June 2020.

Bottle 1: Batch #NGG-04 - Tobalá, 50.1%

Our second batch of 100% Tobalá (A. Potatorum) from Nicolas Garcia Gutierrez, this one produced in winter 2019, as opposed to batch NGG-03, which was produced in summer 2018. Later this month we will visit Nicolas to try a batch he made this summer.

The difference between these batches can be really significant, and it’s our intention to continue releasing this expression, batch-by-batch, to showcase that uniqueness and ideally try to understand what made them taste the way they do.

As we discussed in August, the distinction between agave Potatorum and agave Cupreata can be a bit confusing. We even hypothesised that what we were actually drinking in the last delivery from Puebla was some kind of local cross-breed.

But here in Miahuatlán we’re surely dealing with Potatorum ‘proper’. You can recap on Tobalá facts in the April email (2nd bottle).

It’s a highly sought after species, and one that’s often given special cultural importance for its medicinal or magical qualities - in part because of its tendency to grow in obscure places like cliff faces.

This makes regeneration and sustainable practice all the more important. To that end we are in the process of donating 500 baby Tobala to Nicolas. There’s been a hold-up on this project caused by issues with the municipality where the nursery is located, but we’ll update you soon.

Every time we visit a palenque we learn something. Even one that we’ve been to many times. The last trip to Nicolas was no different…

After adding the fresh ferment to the boiling chamber of the still, we noticed Nicolas adding some clear liquid into the boiling chamber with it.

At first we assumed it must be water, but it turns out that liquid was a few litres of mezcal ordinario.

Ordinario is what runs off of the still from the first distillation. In this case it would be a distillate of about 35% abv (it gets up to the desired 48-50% on second distillation).

So each time the still is refilled with fresh ferment during the first distillation run, some ordinario is added. Then all of that liquid from the first pass is distilled a second time. So if you think about it, a few litres of the final batch has been triple distilled.

Asking around back in Oaxaca it seems this is an ancient and largely forgotten practice. It would mean losing a bit of yield, so a bit like not waiting to harvest ripe or even capon agave, we can see the pressures that industrialisation puts on ancient artisan practice. And we’re very lucky to be savouring these spirits made the true old-school way.

And that’s not all…

We also learned that Nico only uses the refrescador (the water bath around the condensing chamber of the still) on the first (ordinario) distillation.

The second pass happens with the refrescador empty and the fire at a lower temperature.

Amazing stuff. No doubt we’ll get more into the details of all that at Top-Ups on Thursday.

Bottle 2: Batch #CGG-02 - Jabalí, 52.2%

Meet Camilo Garcia Gutierrez - here rolling freshly harvested agave off the back of a truck. Camilo is the brother-in-law of Nicolas. He has his own fields of agave and his own style, but he shares the family palenque… also used by one other brother who may or may not feature in MAS in the future.

Here we have a tiny batch (40 litres produced) of 100% Jabalí (A.Convallis). It’s the second batch of Jabalí ever produced in this palenque. The first was also made by Camilo, and also bought by us, but this is the first to feature in MAS. Nicholas made his first ever batch of Jabalí earlier this year (no prizes for guessing who snapped it up!).

This is all to say that it’s a relatively new thing to be working with Jabalí in this region. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there’s demand for its delicious wild profile where there didn’t used to be. Secondly, it’s very difficult to work with.

Jabalí translates as “wild pig”. So named because of the way the leaves flick at the points like the tusks and hairs of the pigs, and also because it’s so hard to tame.

Check out the write up on bottle number 2 of the February delivery in the library for more Jabalí facts.

It’s expansionary nature means it’s been known to damage stills in production, hence the reticence among producers to work with it.

When the ferment foams up in the still some of it can pass into the condensing chamber and coil, contaminating the otherwise crystal clear mezcal with a yellow tinge - a bit like the colour of this unique agave itself.

As part of controlling this phenomenon, Camilo distills his Jabalí an extra time. Triple distillation means a lot more work, and leads to very small batches that are justifiably more expensive than others made in the same place.

The good news is that, to our eyes, Jabalí seems plentiful in the fields of Miahuatlán. It’s growing wild everywhere you look. And it seems extremely resilient. Here’s two baby ones that Camilo planned to transplant to give them more space from the mother plant. He left them on a limestone rock for a few days and they’ve taken root!

We’ll be making further investigations as to just how plentiful supplies are, and if there’s sustainability efforts needed in the face of growing demand.

Thoughts from the Sin Gusano tasting room:

There are endless variations in styles of production within agave spirits. Add in the many different species of agave and unique heritage techniques, and the discovery is literally endless. But there’s some big picture categorisations that help break down a very complex picture.

Two deliveries back, in June, we were looking at batches fermented in rawhide and distilled in clay pots - a highly inefficient process that lets through a lot of heavy compounds and creates rich and earthy flavours. In August we we went to the other end of the spectrum, with batches produced in a super efficient plated column still - a style that stops those heavy particles from passing through the apparatus and inevitably leads to a crisper and more floral profile.

There’s plenty to love at all ends of the spectrum, but the classic copper alembic we’re dealing with today, in the right hands, arguably produces the most complex, well balanced, and deliciously interesting distillates out there. We may well have revealed this preference before, but while it’s the clay pot producers commanding the most intrigue and the highest prices, it’s the copper still batches we find ourselves reaching for with most frequency.

And the two batches we have today are absolute belters. As is often the way with relatively high proof spirits, they do open up and change with time in the glass. As usual we recommend a reasonable pour and to take just tiny sips and time, as you get acquainted with the new flavours.

Note to new members - the following is our opinion that we happily share with you. But it’s kept to the end for a reason, so hopefully you can form your own before we prejudice you… enjoy and think what you want!

#1, Tobalá. Mineral. Salt. Later herbaceous and oily. Long and complex finish.

Bright and fresh on the nose. You can kind of tell it’s going to have a high mineral quality even before first taste, and indeed when you do taste it has a big initial saltiness on the palate. More herbaceous tones come into play around the mid-palate which complement the light background smoke to create a long and complex finish.

With time in the glass this one seems to become more oily in the mouth feel, as well as sweeter on the palate. If you received the April delivery it’s possible you may have some of the first batch of this Tobala still knocking around, which was bottled at 48.7% abv (there’s also still a couple online). It’s a fascinating comparison if you do. At first they seem like chalk and cheese, but they actually end up in a similar place… this higher abv batch just takes you on longer journey to get there.

We love it. In fact, as long as it’s available, we’re highly likely to bring a 3rd barch of this Tobala out some time next year.

Bottles of batch NGG-04 are online now. The 50cl retail price is £58.75, so your 25% members discount code brings a bottle down to a bargain £44.06.

Remember mainland UK shipping is now free on orders of 2 bottles or more.

Discount code: B6R94VW

Grab your bottle here

#2, Jabalí. Life, distilled.

We always find it especially hard to pin particular flavours to Jabaí. It’s a house favourite agave for that reason. It’s just so alive.

The first batch of this Jabalí from Camilo went almost entirely into our tasting sets - the original Sin Gusano product. Just a handful of bottles made it to our shop and one or two ended up with MAS members, who we know have been hanging out for more. Here it is!

That first batch was like a spicy, grassy, jewel of a mezcal, with flavours that pinged all over the palate. This one is equally as lively, but it’s more clearly black pepper upfront, with, to our mind, hints of tarragon that come through on the mid palate, and again a long and complex, grassy finish.

Emotionally it makes us think of being in a lush damp forrest, surrounded by a diverse ecosystem. It tastes like life itself. Incredible.

Going back to the Tobalá after some time with the Jabalí, the Tobalá seems a little more sweet than at first sip, as well as slightly more smoky. The smell of the empty Tobalá glass is almost like walking into a rustic Mexican bakery that’s baking those overly sugared pastries they eat so many of over there!

Switching back to the Jabalí again, it seems to have done the opposite - got more savoury with time in the glass rather than sweeter. But both changes are in a good way. We’re absolutely loving them and hope you do too.

Bottles of batch CGG-02 are online now. The 50cl retail price is £72.75. That probably makes it the best value Jabalí on the market already. But of course your 25% members discount brings a bottle down to just £54.56… enjoy!

Remember mainland UK shipping is now free on orders of 2 bottles or more.

Discount code: SDXES7Y

Grab your bottle here

Next delivery teaser…

In December MAS is taking its first trip to the home state of Tequila… Jalisco!

(It really is this time)

Salud a todos - Sin Gusano

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