Mezcalero Special Bottling No. 4: De Cabra was aged in glass for six months, using a rather unusual environment to store the aging mezcal.
About this mezcal
Mezcalero Special Bottling No. 4: De Cabra was distilled from maguey Espadin and wild maguey Bicuishe in April, 2017. The idea for this release started a couple years before it was created. Ansley Coale of Craft Distillers and Hector Vasquez of Los Danzantes were visiting mezcalero Don Valente. They were discussing the effects of aging mezcal in glass. Don Valente talked about how the aging helps the mezcal become more integrated, soft, and deep. They decided that they wanted to make a batch that was aged in glass for a very long time, but none of them had the dispensable finances to make a batch and put it away for 12 years. Don Valente, however, said he knew a shortcut to giving mezcal this deep integration; “You put the bottles in a mound of goat excrement for 6 months,” he told them.
It took a little while to get everyone on board with the project, but in April 2017, Don Valente buried 90 liters in goat excrement for 6 months. Los Danzantes received the bottles in late November 2017. Once the labels were made, the entire lot of 120 bottles was shipped to the US.
Mezcalero Mezcal
Each Mezcalero bottling is true to the fundamental batch nature of artisan Mezcal production. Each bottling is distilled from a single integral batch of agaves that are at least 50% wild or semi-wild, and usually 100%. These “silvestre” agaves take a lot of work to harvest: searching for days in the mountains, packing the agaves back on burros. After that, it takes a month of continuous labor to produce a single batch of Mezcalero, usually 600-700 bottles. Mezcalero is both a brand and an intention. The brand is a way for talented artisan distillers to work with, and gain part of their livelihood from, some very special agaves. The intention goes deeper: to help preserve a way of distilling that is also a way of life, deeply linked to the distiller’s family, to his social environs, to his pueblo, to an entire way of life largely deriving from indigenous culture that is at risk of rapid deterioration under pressure from the modernization of Mexico.
Craft Distillers’ tasting video
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GreenspointTexas
385 reviewsBoy oh boy. New Years Eve, Esquire Tavern, San Antonio. Slick, full bodied green apple and cilantro with a touch of mango on the finish. An excellent mezcal to close out the decade with.
Jonny
705 reviewsWe tasted this back to back with the Alipus Ensamble, which is made by the same mezcalero (Don Valente) with the same agave (Espadin y Bicuishe). I’m not sure if the percentages of these agave are the same between these two bottles, but they have almost identical aromas. They both share the similar cotton candy and bubble gum notes that are also present in Don Valente’s Alipus San Andres as well. From what I could taste and smell, it seems like the De Cabra is the same mezcal as the Ensamble, but just with the added complexities of being buried in goat turd for six months. It’s mellow but still has some punch and a lot of wild character.
We tasted this back to back with the Alipus Ensamble, which is made by the same mezcalero (Don Valente) with the same agave (Espadin y Bicuishe). I’m not sure if the percentages of these agave are the same between these two bottles, but they have almost identical aromas. They both share the similar cotton candy and bubble gum notes that are also present in Don Valente’s Alipus San Andres as well. From what I could taste and smell, it seems like the De Cabra is the same mezcal as the