Yuu Baal Joven Jabali Mezcal

Jabalí is the wild boar of agaves — Agave convallis, a small, spiny maguey so difficult to distill that its foam boils over the still and many mezcaleros refuse to work with it — and Yuu Baal bottles it at a price most jabalís never see. Yuu Baal is a social enterprise, a group of producers in San Juan del Río, San Luis del Río, Tlacolula, and Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, whose mission is to highlight native Oaxacan mezcal traditions with every step done by hand. Jabalí is wild-harvested after ten to twelve years, roasted in a conical stone-lined pit, crushed by tahona, fermented with wild yeast in pine vats, and double-distilled in copper — often needing a third pass to tame it — bottled at 48% ABV; every bottle is numbered by lot. Jabalí is prized for a profile unlike any other agave: expect a nose of green apple, fig, anise, and a savory, almost meaty funk over light smoke, opening into a dense, herbal, faintly sweet palate with pepper and minerals, finishing long and unusual. Enthusiasts call Yuu Baal hit or miss across the range and the wild agaves the hits. Honest note: jabalí is a connoisseur's agave — strange by design — and this is among the most affordable ways to meet it. Neat, in a copita, slowly. The wild boar, at a working price.

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