NETA Bicuixe – Jorge Vásquez Aquino

About this destilado de agave

NETA Bicuixe from Jorge Vásquez Aquino was initially released as part of Volume 3 of Agave Mixtape. Heir to a generations-deep legacy, Jorge Vásquez Aquino is the youngest child of Paula Sánchez Aquino and Hermógenes García Vásquez. After starting work in the family’s palenque assisting his parents a few years ago, and eventually making his own batches, Jorge now occupies the status of student, musician, magueyero, and palenquero. In April 2020, a few weeks after Oaxaca entered a restrictive phase of shutdowns and restriction, and just a couple months before her grandson’s 17th birthday, Elvira Aquino, couldn’t bear to watch Jorge sit idle at the ranch in Logoche. She encouraged him to harvest some of the ripe maguey from one of her red earthen parcels of land where corn, beans, squash, and cultivated Madrecuixe and Espadín intermingle with their feral Bicuixe counterparts. This gem is one of the results of these efforts.

For the crafting of this 60L batch, Jorge selected 45 Bicuixe agaves of various sizes; he estimates around 30% were quiotudo and the remaining 70% of plants en guía. After harvest, the piñas were rested for nine days before getting roasted underground with mesquite and a mix of local acacia woods in a cook that lasted the entirety of the week. Waiting another nine days, Jorge chopped the now orange-colored and caramelized agave in pieces small enough to pass through a mechanical shredder. Around 750kg of fibers filled one sabino wood vat which Jorge monitored over the course of two days. After 48 hours, nearly 500L of well water was added. Jorge observed the mash ferment for an additional nine days before the guarape and fibers were ready for distillation, alerting the maestro-in training through visual cues and the tale-tale particularities in its flavors and aromas. Upon double distillation in a 250L copper pot still and a few days wait for the liquid to settle, Jorge made a careful composition of heads, hearts, and a touch of tails to complete this production May 15, 2020.

The NETA team has known Jorge since he was in elementary school, and have watched him grow into a multi-talented and multi-faceted young man. In respect to his work around the palenque, it has been inspiring (abashedly, a little heart-warming) to witness Jorge dedicate himself with such enthusiasm and curiosity to the craft. Having held a long-standing relationship with the family, it is with great joy that they can share this delicious Bicuixe through Agave Mixtape and encourage the work of the next generation of producers in Logoche.

Agave Mixtape

Agave Mixtape brings the best agave spirits together in one place – your place. Agave Mixtape is a subscription based service. Subscribers receive boxes with three 200ml bottles from three different brands – Lalocura, Mal Bien, and Neta (and maybe a few surprises) – filled with batches picked especially for Agave Mixtape, and not available anywhere else in the USA. Each box includes production notes on the batches, along with links to photos, and virtual tastings with the people behind the brands and the mezcaleros. You can subscribe directly from their website.

NETA

NETA is a colloquial word in Mexico that translates to “the real deal” or “the truth”. Since 2012, the brand has worked closely with several small, family producers and a cooperative of twelve palenqueros from the southern valleys and hills of Miahuatlán, Oaxaca. The region has preserved its reputation for producing some of the finest mezcales and agave spirits anywhere in Mexico. The team behind NETA presents a carefully curated selection of extraordinary spirits that would otherwise never be found outside of its place of origin.

A note about NETA labels: The total bottle count written on the front label might be less than the total batch size. Batches may be split between Mexico, Europe, and the US; the handwritten bottle count represents the number of bottles imported into a particular country.

Learn more about NETA:

• NETA – Spirit Distilled from Agave on the K&L Wines Spirits Journal blog
• NETA is finally here on Mezcalistas