Fidencio Madrecuixe Mezcal

Madrecuixe is the mother of the cuixe family — a tall, thin, trunk-like karwinskii agave that grows wild in Oaxaca's dry valleys and takes twelve to fifteen years to mature — and Fidencio's is made by a family that's roasted it for four generations. Fidencio Jiménez began making mezcal over a century ago in Santiago Matatlán, the world capital of mezcal, and the palenque is now run by his great-grandson, fourth-generation maestro Enrique Jiménez; the family also makes El Buho. Enrique roasts the wild madrecuixe in an earthen pit, crushes it by tahona, ferments with native yeast in pine vats, and double-distills in a wood-fired copper alembic, bottled at still strength; check your label for ABV and lot. Karwinskii agaves give a profile unlike espadín — drier, more mineral, more herbal, with less sweetness and a distinctive savory funk. Expect a nose of wet clay, dried herbs, green olive, and citrus peel over a light smoke, opening into a lean, dry, mineral palate with white pepper, cucumber, and a faint saline edge, finishing long and clean. Honest note: wild madrecuixe is scarce and priced for it, and it's a connoisseur's agave — drinkers who know espadín only will find it a different animal. Neat, in a copita, beside the Clásico to taste what the agave changes. The mother cuixe, from Santiago Matatlán.

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