Espadín Capón - Santa Catarina Albarradas

Batch: AM-02

Release date: June 2024

At a glance:

Maguey: Espadín, puro capón (A. Angustifolia)
Producer: Alberto Martínez
Region: Santo Catarina Albarradas, Sierra Norte, Oaxaca
Cooking: 4 day roast, piñas covered with leaves of banana, willow, and acadia trees
Milling: Hand mashed with wooden mallets
Fermentation: 4 days in cement pool, with spring water and the bark of the tepejuaje tree
Distillation: Double pass in clay pots
Batch size: 375 litres
Date of production: May 2022
ABV: 52.1%

We’re pleased to present this special collaborative batch, bottled in partnership with amigos at Cinco Sentidos. The following words for this batch page have been provided by Cinco Sentidos founder Jason Cox.

As the mezcal industry continues to grow rapidly, cocktail-priced brands have battled it out amongst themselves to offer the cheapest-priced bottle in their quest to garner more market share. To accomplish this, they naturally must cut corners, giving life to the age-old adage of quantity vs. quality. The biggest losers in this race-to-the-bottom are both consumers, and the reputation of the oftentimes very noble agave Espadín.

Espadín Capón - Santa Catarina Albarradas mezcal

an in ground oven used for cooking pinas for mezcal

So perhaps there is no better time than now to share a slice of what Espadín can be - distilled by a producer who adheres to no rules other than his own; a carefully crafted criteria for creating a quality agave spirit that is equally expressive of both plant and process.

That producer is Alberto Martinez Lopez of Santa Catarina Albarradas. “Don Beto” has always been known locally for his demanding attention to detail, and it has just been in the past few years that his name has become familiar to mezcal aficionados across the globe.

Espadín capón in the field

Capón Espadín being harvested

This batch is made from 100% Espadín Capón - Espadín plants that were allowed to essentially over-ripen in the field for an additional six to nine months after their nascent quiote was dutifully castrated by Albert and his watchful family.

Those extra six to nine months allow for a reconfiguration of the sugars found in the agave piña, ultimately resulting a sweeter Espadín with a higher Brix content and a more complex organoleptic profile.

Alberto subjects that cooked agave to his meticulous fermentation technique, which incorporates the use of a ground up bark pitched into the fermentation tank along with the cooked mash.

Tepejuaje bark for fermentation in the Sierra Norte

This bark carries a trace amount of nitrogen, thus acting as a natural fermentation starter. Bitter and astringent when chewed on its own, the bark leaves a subtle note of tannins and dried wood on the final spirit, which is carefully distilled in a set of 8x 60-liter clay pot stills that Alberto and his family skilfully man for nearly a week straight during a distilling campaign.

This lot yielded a whopping 375 liters, which is fairly large by Alberto’s standards. Around a quarter of the batch has been bottled by Sin Gusano and is available now.

Don Beto creator of the Espadín Capón - Santa Catarina Albarradas mezcal exclusive to the Sin Gusano project

Gracias Don Beto & Cinco Sentidos

House Tasting Notes:

Nose: The first nose immediately betrays Albarradas, or at least the Sierra Norte - being the only region we know of to use the tepajuaje bark in fermentation. It adds a tannic yet almost bubble gum aroma that runs through all Alberto’s batches. There’s plenty of sweetness here form the over-ripe Espadín, like red glace cherries.

Palate: First sip of this 52%+ batch really fills the mouth with a powerful graininess – not in feel but in flavour, like fresh milled corn. Lots of marzipan sweetness in the mid-palate, as well as a continuation of the tannic flavour from the tree bark in the ferment.

Finish: Herbal hints in a long and lingering finish.

Bottle of the Espadin Capon mezcal exclusive to the Sin Gusano project

Grab a bottle for your collection while stocks last:

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