Del Maguey Single Village Chichicapa Boca del Cerro Mezcal

Chichicapa is the bottle that introduced America to mezcal as something other than a worm in a jug. Ron Cooper, a Taos artist who fell for the village mezcals of Oaxaca in 1990, founded Del Maguey in 1995 on a single idea — bottle each village's mezcal separately, under the village's name, with the maker credited — and Chichicapa was one of the first two. Del Maguey calls it the classic archetype of a great Oaxacan broad-valley mezcal and its most universally recognizable expression: 100% espadín from San Baltazar Chichicápam, roasted in an earthen pit, crushed by tahona, naturally fermented in wood, and twice-distilled in wood-fired copper pot stills by the García family, bottled at 46% ABV. Boca del Cerro — "mouth of the hill" — was the 20th-anniversary edition, named for the palenque's spot at the foot of the mountain. Mezcal Reviews' drinkers use it as the reference point other mezcals get compared to. Expect a long, dry finish of mint and chocolate over a rich, bright, citrusy body with a clean, integrated smoke — Cooper's own note is "citrus, mint, chocolate." Honest note: pricing has climbed since Pernod Ricard bought the brand in 2017, and the village's fame has brought imitators — this is the original. For a copita neat, or the mezcal that makes the Oaxacan Old Fashioned a classic. The certified-organic hand-blown bottle with the Ken Price label. Where single-village mezcal started.

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