Arroqueño - Amatengo

Batch: LEJ-04

Release date: October 2022

In the community of San Agustín Amatengo, within the Ejutla district in the south of Oaxaca’s central valleys, two generations of the Juarez family operate a small yet mighty palenque.

If you’ve lucky enough to have been to Guelaguetza - Oaxaca’a annual celebration of regional diversity - you may have seen the dance of Ejutla. Bold and proud, mezcal of the region follows a similar vibe, with a process that leads to powerful profile.

Sergio Juarez Patricio is an old school mezcalero, while his son Luis - a qualified dentist - leads a new generation with more international ambitions. Most recently Luis’ younger brother Oliver has also joined production full time, allowing Luis more time for promotion and even opening a new bar in central Oaxaca - Gozona.

For this batch the family team have used 16 piñas of maguey Arroqueño (A.Americana var. Oaxacensis) totalling 1900kg. You can do the maths to understand these are huge plants - here in the central valleys they are said to take upwards of 20 years to mature, and can stand 3 metres tall.

The huge piñas were quartered with a machete and roasted for 3 days in a conical stone lined earthen horno, fired with wood from the huamuche and mesquite trees.

The roasted and sweet agaves were then milled by a stone tahona so huge it takes 2 bulls to pull.

Fermentation lasted a whole 16 days, in these classic slatted wooden tinas.

Distillation is where things get really Ejutla specific. The coper alembic stills are fitted with a reflux-plate in the cooling chamber and a refrescadera water bath around the outside.

With this set-up, when the rising vapour hits the relatively cool plate, some if it re-condenses and falls back into the boiling pot. This smart reflux style allows for a 2-in-1 distillation, with the desired alcohol proof being reached with a single pass.

The resulting liquid was then refined to bottling proof with spring water.

Gracias Sergio, Luis, and Oliver

Tasting notes: On first approach there’s a woody nose with notes of vanilla. On the palate there’s an immediate crisp bite that doesn’t hold back - reminiscent of sal de gusano. It leads into a deeper sweet and sour profile, leaving a lingering finish as if you just took a bite of an orange rind. Interesting to try with sal de gusano on the side - sweetens the finish.

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Full production details and 25% discount codes were sent to MAS members along with the October 2022 subscription delivery.

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