Bodega Blend - Amatlán

Batch: NGG-12

Release date: June 2023

main image for the Bodega Blend - Amatlán page on the Sin Gusano project website
main image for the Bodega Blend - Amatlán page on the Sin Gusano project website

At a glance:

  • Maguey: Jabalí (A. Convallils), Espadín (A. Angustifolia), Cucharillo (Dasylirion Sp), Cuishe (A. Karwinski), Madrescuishe (A. Karwinski), Coyote (A. Lyobaa), Tepextate (A. Marmorata), Tobala (A. Potatorum)
  • Producer: Nicolas Garcia Gutierrez
  • Community: San Luis Amatlán, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
  • Cooking: In-earth mezcal horno - 1 week roast
  • Milling: Machete & wood chipper
  • Fermentation: 8-9 days in open wooden tinas with spring water
  • Distillation: Double passed in copper alembique
  • Composition: Heads, hearts and tails. 4 different batches cold blended.
  • Batch size: 20 litres
  • Date of production: Various between 2018-2020. Blended early 2020
  • ABV: 47.2%

It’s always a pleasure to re-visit Nicolas. Not only is there always a new batch or two to taste, but he and his family are wonderful hosts and have shown us many parts of life in Amatlán from mezcal and beyond.

On one visit a while back, we left with this particularly unique find - a cold blend of 4 different batches.

The majority of spirits sales for Nicolas, as well as most of the producers we work with, are to local buyers. Relatively local anyway. People will come from the neighbouring communities and sometimes from Oaxaca City, but the small-scale independent producers we work with are not generally exporting.

Those local sales tend to be for a few litres at a time, which means a 200 litre drum that originally contained a whole fresh batch is slowly dwindling.

There’s not an endless supply of 200 litre drums, or endless space in the bodega, so when two or three drums are getting low it’s not unheard of for producers to combine the last litres into a smaller container and keep it for their own consumption, or parties, or indeed for more local sales.

This saves space in the bodega, frees up the large drums to receive the next batch, and keeps the old batches from over aerating in the large containers and going soft and watery.

Nicolas transplanting maguey verde

Nicolas transplanting maguey verde

Espadín & the milpa

Espadín & the milpa

Wild Tepextate on the family land

Wild Tepextate on the family land

That’s exactly what’s happened here. 4 originally separate batches produced at various times between 2018-2020 had their last few litres each cold blended together into a 20 litre container. The original batches:

  • 100% Jabalí
  • 100% Espadín
  • Ensemble of Madrecuishe, Cuishe, and Cucharillo
  • Ensemble of Coyote, Tobala, and TepextateWe’ve had those 20 litres resting in glass for a couple of years, and we’re now excited to discover the results.
The precious supply of 200 litre drums at the Palenque

The precious supply of 200 litre drums at the Palenque

Blending mezcal at the bodega

Blending at the bodega

Each of the batches followed Nicolas’ regular production style. Agaves underwent a long roast (at least a week) before being chopped by machete and fed through a wood chipper. The crushed agave was fermented in open air tinas before being double distilled in a copper alembique.

The only exception is the batch of Jabalí, which had a 3rd distillation, in an attempt to purify it from the slight yellow tinge that affects most pure Jabalí batches. You can read more about why that happens with Jabalí via batch NGG-08.

You can in fact see from the colour of this blend that even the 3rd distillation wasn’t 100% successful at de-colouring that Jabalí, as it still has a very slight tinge. This is not bad, it just indicates the presence of Jabalí.

Jabalí capon on the family land

Jabalí capon on the family land

Foaming Jabalí weighed down in the fermentation vat

Foaming Jabalí weighed down in the fermentation vat

This is a first for us, to release a cold blend. But it’s so wild and complex, we couldn’t help but share. It also makes for a fascinating discussion point.

Below is a short video of the road back to Miahuatlán from Nicolas’ palenque in San Luis Amatlán. Much like this batch, it’s pure entertainment.

Nicolas, creator of the Bodega Blend - Amatlán mezcal

Gracias Nicolas

House Tasting Notes:

Nose: Enormous herbal nose that fills the nostrils, like someone just threw a big bag of mineral herb salts into a steam room at a health spa, and you have to shallow your breathing not to be overpowered. There’s certainly some Jabalí in there – a fact already betrayed by the slight tinge to the distillate.

Palate: Ka-boom! There’s so much going on there it’s hard to know where to start. It has the fundamental characteristics we’ve come to associate with Amatlán, and Nicolas specifically – saline, mineral. But with lots of different avenues it can take you. Sit with it long enough and you find yourself chasing flavours down different rabbit holes. What stands out most prominently for us is that rascal Jabalí, which often comes across as a really powerful and savoury Karwinski. There’s also some Cucharillo (Sotol) in there giving it extra earthy funk. The longer it opens in the glass, the sweeter it becomes. Going back in for sip number 4 it’s become candied apricots and plumbs. One to spend the whole evening deciphering.

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