Tepanal Ancestral Mexicano & Espadín Mezcal (75cl, 49%)

An ancestral mezcal from maestro Rafael García Aragón in Santa María Sola de Vega, Oaxaca. Mexicano (Agave rhodacantha) and espadín (Agave angustifolia) are roasted, fermented and distilled together in small clay pots, rather than blended after distillation. The García Quiroz family roasts the two agaves together for about three days in a stone-lined earthen pit, ferments them with wild yeast in open wooden vats, and double distills them. Espadín brings roasted-agave backbone and smoke; Mexicano adds sweetness, herbs and fruit. Roasted agave and a wisp of smoke lead, followed by herbs, ripe fruit and a soft floral lift over clay-pot minerality. It finishes long with sweet agave and gentle earth.