tepemete - nombre de dios
Batch: D-RA-02
Release date: December 2022
About 45 minutes drive south east of the city of Durango sits the dusty town of Nombre de Dios. Added to Mexico’s growing list of Pueblo Mágico’s in 2018, it’s the hub of agave spirit production in this state of northern Mexico.
On the outskirts of the town Ramiro Avila keeps a small vinata (distillery) at which he produced this micro-batch of Tepemete in January 2022. We’re very pleased to present it as our first bottling from the region.
Introducing maguey Tepemete: While it’s part of the Angustifolia family or agave, which makes it a cousin of the ubiquitous Espadín, it’s nowhere near as common. In fact Tepemete is only found in the state of Durango, and to our knowledge is as yet uncultivated.
The work-horse maguey of this region, which in term if its cultivation is most comparable to the Espadín of the south, is the Cenizo (A.Durangensis).
The maturation time, size of piña, sugar content and yield, of the Tepemete is comparable to the Espadín but with statistics varying wildly due to the varied wild conditions it grows in.
Tepemete piñas, along with a few Sotol, wait for the roast at Ramiro’s vinata
Agave & Sotol growing wild in the hills around Nombre de Dios
Harvesting from the wild
After a familiar 4 days roast in earthen horno, the agave is chopped and mashed entirely by axe. No horse drawn tahona, no petrol driven chipper, just a heavy axe and a lot of hard work.
Agave mashing by axe in Durango
Fermentation up here in Durango generally takes place in these wood panelled in-earth wells that are kind of morbidly reminiscent of graves. Water is added to the axe chopped mash and it’s left to naturally ferment for 3-4 days.
Distillation in Durango is in this hybrid alembic-filipino style. It’s got the wooden filipino style top condensing pot that you’ll see in Michoacán to the south, but no condensing lid with water running into it, and no in-still capture system.
Instead the vapour is forced out of the wooden top pot into an attached serpentine coil in a cooling bath… the likes of which you would see with regular alembic distillation. The boiling pot is copper, and everything is double passed.
The defining feature of ‘filipino’ style distillation is the in-still capture. So lets call this ‘Durango style alembic’
Gracias Ramiro
Ramiro with a bowl of fresh boiled quiote chunks - a delicious snack
Tasting notes: Cured meats and spices on the nose. On the palate ripe fruits mix with leather tones and a candied sweets. Certainly some smoke in there with the cinnamon and clove from the spice rack coming back for the finish.
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Full production details and 25% discount codes were sent to MAS members along with the December 2022 subscription delivery.
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