Victor Ramos and his son Emanuel have a good reputation for producing consistently excellent agave spirits, developed by their batches being bottled by a few brands for the US market.
On the day we stopped in to say hello, there was just 16 litres remaining in the bodega of this already small batch ensemble. We couldn’t leave it behind. Here it is.
With a roughly even spit of maguey Coyote (Agave Lyobaa), maguey Tobala (Agave Potatorum), maguey Tepextate (Agave Marmorata), and maguey Jabalí (Agave Corvallis), this is a heady mix of powerful plants that less experienced producers may shy away from.
Mix of agave species growing on the family land
Agave and the milpa
But Victor and Emanuel are 4th and 3rd generation producers respectively, and no strangers to the field blend.
This 50 litre batch was produced in late summer 2021, and by the time we got to it in October that year it had mostly been sold by the litre locally.
The old palenque this batch was produced in
Old palenque in the background with filled oven foreground
In the Miahuatlán style, agaves are roasted in an earthen horno for around a week, before being milled by tahona and then fermented in open air wooden tinas (well water added), and finally double distilled in copper alembics.
New alembics waiting for instillation
Clean fermentation vat at the old palenque
When we visited Victor was working on the build of a new enlarged palenque. So this may be one of the final batches to hail exclusively from the old stills.
Gracias Victor & Emanuel
Profile overview: Sweet, woody, grassy
Tasting notes: Sweet roasted agave on first nose, with more woody tones quickly opening that have become grassy even before you’ve had time for the first sip – big change over those first 30 seconds in the glass. Wow, on the palate there’s so much going on – initially sweet but with a peppered tones from the Tepextate kicking in quickly. After that the Jabalí makes itself know, with those powerful grassy woody tones it often has – similar to Karwinski but with the intensity and brightness turned up a notch. A long and round finish fades to a mild tingle and a desire for another sip.
There's just 29 bottles in existence, and they’re all exclusively at:
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