Palenqueros Alberto Ortiz Espadín Mezcal

Palenqueros is the mezcal project started by Luca Gargano of Velier, the Italian independent bottler, to put single producers from Oaxaca on the label under their own names. This bottle comes from Alberto Ortiz, a fourth-generation palenquero working in Bramaderos, in the Miahuatlán district of southern Oaxaca, alongside his son Onofre, the fifth generation. Alberto's mezcal is well known in the category; he has also distilled for brands such as Mezcalero. His espadín is cooked in a conical earthen pit oven, crushed by hand with a wooden mallet, left to ferment naturally for about seven days on ambient yeast in pine vats, and distilled over direct fire in 350-liter pot stills. It goes into the bottle clear, straight from the still, at full proof: 49% ABV. Published notes describe a powerful nose of damp earth, grass and mustard seed turning mineral and saline with ginger, citrus and honeyed agave, then a lively palate of agave milk, pear, peach, mandarin, banana and pineapple, with a long, silky finish. A benchmark single-palenque espadín, bottled without additives.

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