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Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
Delmaguey.com Hawaii Distributor: Southern
Glazer's Wine and Spirits |
The history of Del Maguey is also the history of the mezcal boom. Before artist and Del Maguey founder Ron Cooper wove together various artisanal mezcal palenqueros and brought their distillates to the United States, Mezcal was unknown outside of adulterated mass market products.
*All images in this article are courtesy Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal © 2021
Brand Story
Cooper’s mezcal story starts in 1962, when he tried his first mezcal, Monte Alban Mezcal at Hussong's Cantina in Ensenada while on a road trip with art school classmates from Los Angeles. His next formative experience with mezcal was on a trip in 1972 with artist friends, to determine for themselves if the Pan-American Highway existed. On that trip, they found Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca, a weaving village. As a visual artist, Ron fell in love with their art, and this weaving was the catalyst for his return trips. His initial project in the village was a commission by the Zapotec people who lived there, to exhibit 1,000 weavings across galleries and museums in the United States. During these formative travels, Cooper became close friends with many in the weaving community, and was invited to family celebrations where he found a new art medium: Mezcal. “When I began to find these farmer-made mezcals and sip them, they were truly transformational. They actually fulfilled my criteria for a successful work of art.”
After the weaving project ended, Ron’s regular travels to Teotitlán del Valle continued. In 1990, when Cooper had enough money to go anywhere in the world that he wanted, instead of finally fulfilling his desire to go to Japan, he felt the urge to return to Mexico. He called his Zapotec weaver friend Arnulfo Mendoza, who helped him find a house for three months. “The idea was to collaborate with indigenous artisans, and make weavings with my imagery using Arnulfo’s workshop. He was the greatest weaver in Mexico. I wanted to make stone sculptures based on the [traditional] corn grinder, mano and metate, or male/female. I was [also] making these strange vases out of bronze that shaped the air around them. The idea was that the shape created the profile of the supreme god of intoxication and ecstasy, Ometochtli. I was going to create a blue glass bottle in Oaxaca and find the best mezcal to fill it with, as an artistic edition of 50 bottles. So every third day in Oaxaca, I went down a dirt road and asked [the native Zapotec] ‘Dónde está el mejor?’’ (Where’s the best?) They answered in their language, which I could not understand, but I could follow their hands, and I would drive down dirt roads for hours until I found a giant stone grinding wheel in a field, and I would go ask the farmer ‘how do you do this?’ I began to hang out with these farmers and collect their beautiful elixir. It became apparent to me that their mezcals were the real, pure mezcal, unlike Monte Alban, which was adulterated. The closer any mezcal got to the city, the more contaminated it became. They added water, cane alcohol, flavoring and coloring (not the producers, but the people commercializing these mezcals). So my mission was to bring “del bueno”, the good stuff, to share with me and my friends in the United States. Customs, however, had different thoughts. In order to import mezcal, Cooper had to form a company to legally bottle and ship it to the United States. He named the company Del Maguey. It took him until 1995 to establish the company, with Teotitlán del Valle becoming the home operations base, which included the “bottling plant”. The next challenge was to secure partnerships with palenqueros.
After the weaving project ended, Ron’s regular travels to Teotitlán del Valle continued. In 1990, when Cooper had enough money to go anywhere in the world that he wanted, instead of finally fulfilling his desire to go to Japan, he felt the urge to return to Mexico. He called his Zapotec weaver friend Arnulfo Mendoza, who helped him find a house for three months. “The idea was to collaborate with indigenous artisans, and make weavings with my imagery using Arnulfo’s workshop. He was the greatest weaver in Mexico. I wanted to make stone sculptures based on the [traditional] corn grinder, mano and metate, or male/female. I was [also] making these strange vases out of bronze that shaped the air around them. The idea was that the shape created the profile of the supreme god of intoxication and ecstasy, Ometochtli. I was going to create a blue glass bottle in Oaxaca and find the best mezcal to fill it with, as an artistic edition of 50 bottles. So every third day in Oaxaca, I went down a dirt road and asked [the native Zapotec] ‘Dónde está el mejor?’’ (Where’s the best?) They answered in their language, which I could not understand, but I could follow their hands, and I would drive down dirt roads for hours until I found a giant stone grinding wheel in a field, and I would go ask the farmer ‘how do you do this?’ I began to hang out with these farmers and collect their beautiful elixir. It became apparent to me that their mezcals were the real, pure mezcal, unlike Monte Alban, which was adulterated. The closer any mezcal got to the city, the more contaminated it became. They added water, cane alcohol, flavoring and coloring (not the producers, but the people commercializing these mezcals). So my mission was to bring “del bueno”, the good stuff, to share with me and my friends in the United States. Customs, however, had different thoughts. In order to import mezcal, Cooper had to form a company to legally bottle and ship it to the United States. He named the company Del Maguey. It took him until 1995 to establish the company, with Teotitlán del Valle becoming the home operations base, which included the “bottling plant”. The next challenge was to secure partnerships with palenqueros.
First shipment of mezcal to the U.S. was in 1995 and consisted of 28 bottles of Chichicapa and 28 bottles of San Luis Del Rio. By 1996 there were four villages including Santo Domingo Albarradas (Espiridion Morales Luis, Juan Morales Luis, Armando Morales Luis, Ester Morales Luis), and in 1997 Santa Maria Albarradas was added. It would be another 15 years before the next village was added.
The next challenge was to build the brand as traditional mezcal was not understood domestically in Mexico or in the United States. In 1997 Recognition from the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago where it was awarded the highest ever score (at that point) in the category of Tequila and Mezcal, helped Del Maguey gain traction in the United States. However, it took until the late 2000’s for Del Maguey and mezcal to gain traction in Mexico and become part of the larger Mexicanidad (Mexican Identity).
The next challenge was to build the brand as traditional mezcal was not understood domestically in Mexico or in the United States. In 1997 Recognition from the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago where it was awarded the highest ever score (at that point) in the category of Tequila and Mezcal, helped Del Maguey gain traction in the United States. However, it took until the late 2000’s for Del Maguey and mezcal to gain traction in Mexico and become part of the larger Mexicanidad (Mexican Identity).
Ron Cooper on the roof of the Bodega in Teotitlán del Valle
Agave Stainability
Del Maguey has fostered and developed nurseries in multiple communities to aid in the propagation of both wild, semi-wild, and semi-cultivated varieties of agave. In Santa Catarina Minas, for example, Del Maguey is preserving some of the most threatened species in the area, including Barril, Madrecuixe, Pelon, Sierra Negra, Mexicano and Coyote. In La Mixteca, more than half of the Papalome maguey used in this expression has been cultivated from human planting. In Oaxaca’s Sierra Sur, Valles Centrales, Mixteca, and Sierra Norte regions,Del Maguey is involved with even more wild maguey nurseries.
Benefits to the Region and Palenqueros
The testament to having a solid relationship is its ability to endure, and all of the distillers Del Maguey has partnered with have remained partners. Additionally, all of the current families have a succession plan in place to continue producing. “One of the side benefits that has become something that we could have never planned or imagined is that many of the family members who had to go to the U.S. to make a living have been able to return to Oaxaca and work in the family business. It’s really important to understand that the entire family is involved. In every case, there’s no way that anyone in the family could do what they do without everyone working as a team. And the women are involved in every aspect of it. Everyone has their jobs and does them with great dedication and honor.”
Del Maguey has also invested in infrastructure. Many of the palenques have expanded by adding more fermentation tinas and additional stills, however the techniques and equipment to make the mezcal have been replicated rather than been replaced by new technology. This has been done in a very deliberate effort to preserve the traditional practices of the producers. Additionally, the company has invested in cell phone towers, internet service and a community health center in Teotitlán del Valle.
“Our mission has evolved to the point now that it’s about protecting that culture and preserving that ancient process,” Olson added.
To learn more about the Del Maguey
Ron Cooper’s book “Finding Mezcal” eloquently tells the story of his personal relationship with each producer and provides additional insight into mezcal. More importantly, it helps the reader better understand the inspiration, rationale, and dedication that Cooper and the Del Maguey team have to the art that is mezcal
Ron Cooper’s book “Finding Mezcal” eloquently tells the story of his personal relationship with each producer and provides additional insight into mezcal. More importantly, it helps the reader better understand the inspiration, rationale, and dedication that Cooper and the Del Maguey team have to the art that is mezcal
The Producers (Available in Hawaii)
San Luis Del Rio, the Powerhouse Producer
Village: San Luis Del Rio
Family: Paciano Cruz Nolasco, Marcos Cruz Mendez
Cooper’s first experience with Paciano’s mezcal was in 1990, as a post-lunch digestivo at a little restaurant in Tlacolula de Matamoros. "After this lunch, they brought me a little sip of mezcal just as a gift. I tasted it, and went ‘Where did this come from?’ They said, ‘Oh, San Luis Del Rio.’ Turns out five years later it was him, but I couldn't forget that mezcal.”
Cooper's next experience was in 1995, on a mezcal expedition to San Luis Del Rio in a 1968 Cadillac Coupe Deville. “It had big truck tires on it and a whole new undercarriage. It was the first vehicle I took to Oaxaca. It was outrageous. We [also] took the backseat out and put stainless steel beer barrels in the back where the backseat was, so we could haul mezcal with it.” He recalls, “On this Saturday I said to Poncho, ‘let's go take a trip to San Luis.’ We load in his mom, wife, and daughters, then head off with a map and we go south of Oaxaca a couple hours on 16-kilometer dirt and rock road and we come to this tiny village of San Luis Del Rio.”
“We drove all the way through the village to the little municipio (the town hall) and about a dozen men were sitting on the front porch and having a meeting. Poncho, who speaks Zapotec, got out and I got out; the women went to church with the girls. We went to the men and said,
"This gringo here wants to get some of your mezcal and take it to the world. Is there anyone here that makes mezcal that we can talk to?" Dead silence, nobody said a word. They just looked at us like a flying saucer was parked in front of them. We got scared and went, "Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I think we'll leave now. Goodbye." We backed up and went to the church, got the women and the girls, loaded the car, and slowly cruised out of town. Then, this guy came running after us and he said, ‘I make mezcal. I make the best mezcal in the village.’ We went, ‘Okay. When can we try it?’ He said, ‘I don't have any now, come back in a month.’ We came back in a month and met up with Paciano Cruz Nolasco, and the rest is history.”
“He is the most powerful producer,” Cooper added. “He actually likes planting agave more than making mezcal.”
“Growing up on a farm in the Midwest in Iowa, I always felt that my grandfather was the smartest man in the world and knew everything there was to know about the land,” said Del Maguey partner Steve Olson. “As a farmer, it was as if he was one with the land. Many, many years ago, when we were in the fields with Paciano and listening to him explain things about the field, I remember saying, ‘he's my age, but he reminds me of my grandfather, the way he understands the earth. He's one with the earth. He is perhaps the greatest farmer, and certainly the greatest maguey farmer that I've ever met.”
The palenque started as open-air, with three tinas (fermentation tanks), one still and no electricity. Over the last 25 years, the Palenque has grown to accommodate the production of four expressions of Del Maguey, including Vida, by increasing the infrastructure without changing the methods of production. San Luis Del Rio has transformed as well, from a remote village with only a couple of producers to a center of maguey growing with more than 20 registered producers in the village.
Village: San Luis Del Rio
Family: Paciano Cruz Nolasco, Marcos Cruz Mendez
Cooper’s first experience with Paciano’s mezcal was in 1990, as a post-lunch digestivo at a little restaurant in Tlacolula de Matamoros. "After this lunch, they brought me a little sip of mezcal just as a gift. I tasted it, and went ‘Where did this come from?’ They said, ‘Oh, San Luis Del Rio.’ Turns out five years later it was him, but I couldn't forget that mezcal.”
Cooper's next experience was in 1995, on a mezcal expedition to San Luis Del Rio in a 1968 Cadillac Coupe Deville. “It had big truck tires on it and a whole new undercarriage. It was the first vehicle I took to Oaxaca. It was outrageous. We [also] took the backseat out and put stainless steel beer barrels in the back where the backseat was, so we could haul mezcal with it.” He recalls, “On this Saturday I said to Poncho, ‘let's go take a trip to San Luis.’ We load in his mom, wife, and daughters, then head off with a map and we go south of Oaxaca a couple hours on 16-kilometer dirt and rock road and we come to this tiny village of San Luis Del Rio.”
“We drove all the way through the village to the little municipio (the town hall) and about a dozen men were sitting on the front porch and having a meeting. Poncho, who speaks Zapotec, got out and I got out; the women went to church with the girls. We went to the men and said,
"This gringo here wants to get some of your mezcal and take it to the world. Is there anyone here that makes mezcal that we can talk to?" Dead silence, nobody said a word. They just looked at us like a flying saucer was parked in front of them. We got scared and went, "Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I think we'll leave now. Goodbye." We backed up and went to the church, got the women and the girls, loaded the car, and slowly cruised out of town. Then, this guy came running after us and he said, ‘I make mezcal. I make the best mezcal in the village.’ We went, ‘Okay. When can we try it?’ He said, ‘I don't have any now, come back in a month.’ We came back in a month and met up with Paciano Cruz Nolasco, and the rest is history.”
“He is the most powerful producer,” Cooper added. “He actually likes planting agave more than making mezcal.”
“Growing up on a farm in the Midwest in Iowa, I always felt that my grandfather was the smartest man in the world and knew everything there was to know about the land,” said Del Maguey partner Steve Olson. “As a farmer, it was as if he was one with the land. Many, many years ago, when we were in the fields with Paciano and listening to him explain things about the field, I remember saying, ‘he's my age, but he reminds me of my grandfather, the way he understands the earth. He's one with the earth. He is perhaps the greatest farmer, and certainly the greatest maguey farmer that I've ever met.”
The palenque started as open-air, with three tinas (fermentation tanks), one still and no electricity. Over the last 25 years, the Palenque has grown to accommodate the production of four expressions of Del Maguey, including Vida, by increasing the infrastructure without changing the methods of production. San Luis Del Rio has transformed as well, from a remote village with only a couple of producers to a center of maguey growing with more than 20 registered producers in the village.
Minero
Village: Santa Catarina Minas
Family: Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, Florencio Carlos Vasquez, Luis Carlos Vasquez, Luis Carlos Martinez, Felix Cruz Angeles
Cooper first learned about the special mezcal of Santa Catarina Minas from his friend Pancho’s father Cosme, an old weaver who often accompanied him on mezcal-finding expeditions. On this expedition, it took some time to find Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, or Don Lencho, as they came to know him. Cooper recalls, “We rolled into town and found our way to a palenque. Everyone there was fall-down drunk, and we knew immediately that it was no place we wanted to be. We asked if there were any other mezcal makers in town and were pointed down a washboard road. We pulled up outside of the home of Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, who lived there with his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
He greeted us warily, but as soon as we revealed we were in the market for a mezcal, I could see the wheels in his head turning. ‘If you want mezcal, I’ve got the best, but it's going to cost you’, he said. What he poured us was incredible—at once rich and robust, but also floral and honeyed. And it had a texture like velvet on the tongue. Don Lencho showed us his palenque, and I began to grasp what made his mezcal so special.
The still he used was made of clay, instead of copper. It sat on a mud stove heated with firewood. No bigger than a kitchen cauldron, it was equipped with a hollow carrizo reed, from which dripped the fresh mezcal. He called the contraption “olla de barro,” or “clay pot.’”
Cooper wasn’t sure that he would work with Don Lencho, as he wanted to charge 20 times more than any other producer, so he tabled the decision for another day. “But I couldn't stop thinking about how it tasted and felt in the mouth and the archaic way it was made. It took me a year to return to Minas. In the end, it was inevitable. The mezcal was just too good,” said Cooper.
Village: Santa Catarina Minas
Family: Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, Florencio Carlos Vasquez, Luis Carlos Vasquez, Luis Carlos Martinez, Felix Cruz Angeles
Cooper first learned about the special mezcal of Santa Catarina Minas from his friend Pancho’s father Cosme, an old weaver who often accompanied him on mezcal-finding expeditions. On this expedition, it took some time to find Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, or Don Lencho, as they came to know him. Cooper recalls, “We rolled into town and found our way to a palenque. Everyone there was fall-down drunk, and we knew immediately that it was no place we wanted to be. We asked if there were any other mezcal makers in town and were pointed down a washboard road. We pulled up outside of the home of Florencio Carlos Sarmiento, who lived there with his wife, two sons, and two daughters.
He greeted us warily, but as soon as we revealed we were in the market for a mezcal, I could see the wheels in his head turning. ‘If you want mezcal, I’ve got the best, but it's going to cost you’, he said. What he poured us was incredible—at once rich and robust, but also floral and honeyed. And it had a texture like velvet on the tongue. Don Lencho showed us his palenque, and I began to grasp what made his mezcal so special.
The still he used was made of clay, instead of copper. It sat on a mud stove heated with firewood. No bigger than a kitchen cauldron, it was equipped with a hollow carrizo reed, from which dripped the fresh mezcal. He called the contraption “olla de barro,” or “clay pot.’”
Cooper wasn’t sure that he would work with Don Lencho, as he wanted to charge 20 times more than any other producer, so he tabled the decision for another day. “But I couldn't stop thinking about how it tasted and felt in the mouth and the archaic way it was made. It took me a year to return to Minas. In the end, it was inevitable. The mezcal was just too good,” said Cooper.
Las Milpas
Village: Las Milpas
Family: Cruz Antonio: Anastacio, and sons Rigoberto, Abel y Pedro
Cooper was introduced to Anastasio Cruz Antonio through his neighbor, friend, and weaver Don Gaspar, over lunch. As the story goes, Anastacio showed up with a 5 liter plastic gas can of his mezcal. Cooper recalls, “Don Gaspar introduces me to Anastasio, and says he makes good mezcal. I [skeptically] went, "Yes, yes, yes. Right." He went, ‘No, no, no, go in the kitchen and bring back some glasses.’ I bring back a Fred Flintstone jelly jar and some flower glasses and pour some of this mezcal. I'm prepared to drink something horrendous and it was this incredible elixir. I said, "Hey, can I buy a liter of this from you?" He went, "No, you have to buy all five liters." I went, "Okay, I'll do it, but give me your gas can and I'll go down and pour it into some bottles I've got in the bodega." When I gave him back his 5 liter plastic gas can and paid him, I asked him, "How do I find you?" He said, "I'm in Las Milpas. Here's a phone number of my nephew, who is the vocal, the right-hand man of the president of San Dionisio."
It took a year for Cooper to reconnect with Anastasio. Coincidently, it corresponded to the day of his son Rigoberto’s wedding. Cooper recalls, “I had visitors from Kyoto, Japan. We were going to go out to Chichicapa and Minas and I said, ‘Hey, let's see if we can find Anastasio.’ [I called] the number Anastasio had given me and, miraculously, he answered. We made a plan to meet in the market. We drove about an hour and a half to get to San Dionisio to pick up Anastasio. It turned out to be his eldest son's wedding the night before, and a party was still winding down.
The family was gathered, not in a house, but a makeshift shelter made of carrizo and covered with a tarp. They dragged over a table from somewhere and we all sat down together. Anastasio poured us some mezcal. His eldest son and my friends all shared a toast. The mezcal was incredible. ‘It’ so good to meet you all,’ I said after an hour or so. ‘Now, can we go to Las Milpas?’ Only then did he reveal that Las Milpas was another several hours over the mountain by car.
It wasn’t until the following year that I finally made it to Las Milpas.“ When I first went there, we had determined that we were going to ‘put them into business’ like with Faustino, but 20 years later. They had rented the still to make this beautiful mezcal. We all agreed that this family was the kind of family we wanted to work with. The mezcal was mind-blowing. We had to have it. We helped them, financially, with building their own palenque. This is the most amazing horno [oven] because it's literally carved out of the mountain,” added Cooper.
Las Milpas officially partnered with Del Maguey in 2019.
Village: Las Milpas
Family: Cruz Antonio: Anastacio, and sons Rigoberto, Abel y Pedro
Cooper was introduced to Anastasio Cruz Antonio through his neighbor, friend, and weaver Don Gaspar, over lunch. As the story goes, Anastacio showed up with a 5 liter plastic gas can of his mezcal. Cooper recalls, “Don Gaspar introduces me to Anastasio, and says he makes good mezcal. I [skeptically] went, "Yes, yes, yes. Right." He went, ‘No, no, no, go in the kitchen and bring back some glasses.’ I bring back a Fred Flintstone jelly jar and some flower glasses and pour some of this mezcal. I'm prepared to drink something horrendous and it was this incredible elixir. I said, "Hey, can I buy a liter of this from you?" He went, "No, you have to buy all five liters." I went, "Okay, I'll do it, but give me your gas can and I'll go down and pour it into some bottles I've got in the bodega." When I gave him back his 5 liter plastic gas can and paid him, I asked him, "How do I find you?" He said, "I'm in Las Milpas. Here's a phone number of my nephew, who is the vocal, the right-hand man of the president of San Dionisio."
It took a year for Cooper to reconnect with Anastasio. Coincidently, it corresponded to the day of his son Rigoberto’s wedding. Cooper recalls, “I had visitors from Kyoto, Japan. We were going to go out to Chichicapa and Minas and I said, ‘Hey, let's see if we can find Anastasio.’ [I called] the number Anastasio had given me and, miraculously, he answered. We made a plan to meet in the market. We drove about an hour and a half to get to San Dionisio to pick up Anastasio. It turned out to be his eldest son's wedding the night before, and a party was still winding down.
The family was gathered, not in a house, but a makeshift shelter made of carrizo and covered with a tarp. They dragged over a table from somewhere and we all sat down together. Anastasio poured us some mezcal. His eldest son and my friends all shared a toast. The mezcal was incredible. ‘It’ so good to meet you all,’ I said after an hour or so. ‘Now, can we go to Las Milpas?’ Only then did he reveal that Las Milpas was another several hours over the mountain by car.
It wasn’t until the following year that I finally made it to Las Milpas.“ When I first went there, we had determined that we were going to ‘put them into business’ like with Faustino, but 20 years later. They had rented the still to make this beautiful mezcal. We all agreed that this family was the kind of family we wanted to work with. The mezcal was mind-blowing. We had to have it. We helped them, financially, with building their own palenque. This is the most amazing horno [oven] because it's literally carved out of the mountain,” added Cooper.
Las Milpas officially partnered with Del Maguey in 2019.
Products
Approach to Agave
Del Maguey emphasizes to their producers the importance of letting agave completely ripen in order to enhance phenolic complexity. This means they typically harvest agave older and at a higher brix than some other producers. The photo of “grandisimo” is an agave harvested in June of 2019 by Luis Carlos in Santa Catarina Minas, which clocked in at over 459 kilograms! A rarity but also a testament to what can be accomplished when using sustainable farming practices.
Approach to Fermentation
Del Maguey fermentations are always 4.5-5% ABV
Approach to Distillation Techniques
Many of Del Maguey’s producers use techniques that were passed down from previous generations. This means that techniques weren’t chosen, but rather bequeathed.
Approach to proofing
Del Maguey does not believe in adding water to mezcal. Instead, mezcal is pulled off the still as close to bottling proof as possible. Tails are then used to adjust the ABV down at the palenques.
San Luis Del Rio Crema de Mezcal
Is made by pressing roasted agave into Miel de Maguey, an unfermented syrup of the roasted agave. After the mezcal is made, Miel de Maguey is added to San Luis del Rio mezcal to make Crema de Mezcal.
Woven Baskets
The woven baskets that encapsule select Del Maguey bottles depict abstractions of flowers, ceramics, landscapes, or architectural elements of Zapotec or Mixtec origin. They are made by a group of 20-40 women from San Luis Amatlan, Oaxaca. They are paid as a group and then collectively decide how to use the money to benefit the community.
Del Maguey emphasizes to their producers the importance of letting agave completely ripen in order to enhance phenolic complexity. This means they typically harvest agave older and at a higher brix than some other producers. The photo of “grandisimo” is an agave harvested in June of 2019 by Luis Carlos in Santa Catarina Minas, which clocked in at over 459 kilograms! A rarity but also a testament to what can be accomplished when using sustainable farming practices.
Approach to Fermentation
Del Maguey fermentations are always 4.5-5% ABV
Approach to Distillation Techniques
Many of Del Maguey’s producers use techniques that were passed down from previous generations. This means that techniques weren’t chosen, but rather bequeathed.
Approach to proofing
Del Maguey does not believe in adding water to mezcal. Instead, mezcal is pulled off the still as close to bottling proof as possible. Tails are then used to adjust the ABV down at the palenques.
San Luis Del Rio Crema de Mezcal
Is made by pressing roasted agave into Miel de Maguey, an unfermented syrup of the roasted agave. After the mezcal is made, Miel de Maguey is added to San Luis del Rio mezcal to make Crema de Mezcal.
Woven Baskets
The woven baskets that encapsule select Del Maguey bottles depict abstractions of flowers, ceramics, landscapes, or architectural elements of Zapotec or Mixtec origin. They are made by a group of 20-40 women from San Luis Amatlan, Oaxaca. They are paid as a group and then collectively decide how to use the money to benefit the community.
Program Implementation
On-premise programs
Vida is great for adding complex and roasty, campfire flavors and differs from Scotch Whisky as it lacks the cereal notes, and single note of peat smoke. Vida as a base spirit works well in stirred drinks and stands up to concentrated amaros. If used as a split-base with other brown spirits, it provides robustness and complexity to a cocktail. And as a rinse, it adds a nice puff of smoke.
The core Single Village Series is great for bar programs that have higher priced menus because it can unlock another layer of mezcal’s complexity and usage. In particular, compared to Vida, the Single Village series has a lighter flavor profile making it more viable for shaken drinks as well as stirred drinks. As to which bottle to use is a personal choice.
The Vino de Mezcal Series is ideal for programs that are looking to create a mezcal sipping experience.
Off-premise programs
Beyond Vida, a bottle or few of the Single Village Series will provide variation to retail offerings. Chichicapa may be the driver in this category in regards to name recognition. Las Milpas has a great story with the palenque’s oven being carved out of the mountain. This can work great for programs that focus on customer interaction.
Minero is great if your retail demographic is looking at the $99.99 price point.
Its production process story and category as an Ancestral Mezcal easily differ it from other mezcal.
Vida is great for adding complex and roasty, campfire flavors and differs from Scotch Whisky as it lacks the cereal notes, and single note of peat smoke. Vida as a base spirit works well in stirred drinks and stands up to concentrated amaros. If used as a split-base with other brown spirits, it provides robustness and complexity to a cocktail. And as a rinse, it adds a nice puff of smoke.
The core Single Village Series is great for bar programs that have higher priced menus because it can unlock another layer of mezcal’s complexity and usage. In particular, compared to Vida, the Single Village series has a lighter flavor profile making it more viable for shaken drinks as well as stirred drinks. As to which bottle to use is a personal choice.
The Vino de Mezcal Series is ideal for programs that are looking to create a mezcal sipping experience.
Off-premise programs
Beyond Vida, a bottle or few of the Single Village Series will provide variation to retail offerings. Chichicapa may be the driver in this category in regards to name recognition. Las Milpas has a great story with the palenque’s oven being carved out of the mountain. This can work great for programs that focus on customer interaction.
Minero is great if your retail demographic is looking at the $99.99 price point.
Its production process story and category as an Ancestral Mezcal easily differ it from other mezcal.
Last Updated April, 2021