Alma Tepec Licor de Chile Pasilla Mixe (75cl, 40%)

Alma Tepec is a liqueur made from Pasilla Mixe chiles, grown at more than 5,000 feet above sea level in the Sierra Mixe mountains of Oaxaca. It is handmade by female communes in Oaxaca, with chiles matured in the field, smoke-dried over oak or mesquite, then macerated in Veracruz sugarcane distillate for six to twelve months and lightly sweetened with cane sugar. The brand was founded to revive endangered ancestral chile varieties in rural Oaxacan communities. The liqueur won Gold at the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The nose has gentle but pervasive smoke, with cocoa, dried red berries and toasted allspice. The palate highlights chile throughout, with dried fruit, clove and caramel, lifted by pleasant chile spice and tannin. Woodsmoke, cacao, roasting coffee, incense and rum raisins also appear, with an impossibly deep, rich flavour.