Mezcal Don Amado Rustico

Eleven generations of the Arellanes family have made mezcal in Santa Catarina Minas since the late 1700s — and Don Amado is the standard-bearer of the village that never stopped distilling in clay. Santa Catarina Minas, in Oaxaca's Ocotlán district, is famous for ollas de barro: small ceramic pot stills with bamboo tubing, a sixteenth-century technique that gives mezcal an earthy, mineral softness copper can't. Rústico is the house's flagship: mature highland espadín from estate-grown plants, roasted in a wood-burning earthen pit, crushed and fermented together with its fibers for a richer agave character, and double-distilled in ceramic-and-bamboo pot stills by maestro Germán Bonifacio Arellanes, bottled at 47% ABV (94 proof); the same palenque makes Mina Real. Mezcal Reviews found fresh clay and charred maguey on the nose, clay funk with spearmint, zucchini, and peach preserves on the palate — solid Santa Catarina Minas vibes — and calls it silky with a vibrant finish, meant to be sipped neat. Drinkhacker: a very pretty mezcal, not particularly smoky, balanced among ember, citrus, apple wood, and marshmallow cream. Mezcal Pro's reviewer: a lot of complexity, perfectly balanced, five stars. Honest note: a few tasters found older batches one-dimensional; recent lots have the clay character in full. For a copita, or the Oaxaca Old Fashioned of your life. Minas, in clay.

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