5 Sentidos Tepextate – Benigno & Javier

About this destilado de agave

This small single-tina batch of Tepextate (A. marmorata) was the result of a collaboration between Benigno Garcia and his cousin Javier Vasquez. The two of them harvested 1,431 kg of wild Tepexate from the village of San Luis Amatlan, Oaxaca, then trucked it back to Benigno’s father’s palenque in the village of San Isidro Guishe. They roasted the Tepextate hearts in an underground oven for eight days with mesquite, huamuche and encino, then crushed the cooked hearts with a tractor-pulsed tahona to create a fermentable mash. That mash was then heaped into a single sabino cypress tank, and allowed to ferment for just over a week with well water. Once the fermentation was complete, Benigno and Javier double-distilled the mash using copper alembic stills at Benigno’s father’s palenque, “El Labrador”, in October 2023. Proofed with heads, hearts & tails. Bottles in December 2023.

This batch CHUCHO was selected by and bottled for El Chucho in Washington, DC

5 Sentidos

5 Sentidos (or Cinco Sentidos) is named after the five senses that their mezcaleros use to produce their agave spirits. The producers of this mezcal do not use any model machinery or tools, being guided only by their senses throughout the production process. The brand was launched by El Destilado restaurant in centro Oaxaca. The restaurant is known for it’s creative menu, unique cocktails, and exception agave spirits. The brand is a curated tour of Mexico with a wide range of expressions that are made by some of the best mezcaleros in the region. Cinco Sentidos is uncertified mezcal and is labeled as “Destilado de Agave”.

Learn more about 5 Sentidos:

• Cinco Sentidos and El Destilado on Mezcal Reviews
• Santa María Ixcatlán: Rawhide Fermentation with Amando Alvarez on Mezcal Reviews
• What’s in A Name? on the K&L Wines Spirits Journal blog