Real Minero Barril, Cuishe

About this mezcal

Real Minero Barril, Cuishe is made with maguey Barril (agave Karwinskii) and maguey Cuishe (Rhodacantha). While maguey Cuishe is a Karwinskii agave in most communities, it’s a Rhodacantha in Santa Catarina Minas, where this mezcal is made. Most other Oaxacan communities would call this maguey Mexicano. The black label of this mezcal indicates that it is an Ancestral Mezcal, while most of their other releases are Artisinal Mezcal. Essentially this means that rather than using a shredder to mill the cooked agave, they milled this batch by hand with mallets. While there are other stipulations to being considered Ancestral, the shredding of agave is the only reason Real Minero doesn’t call all of their mezcal Ancestral. Milling by hand rather than a shredder creates an enormous amount of (literally) back breaking work. Distilled in March of 2018, this mezcal is 67% Barril and 33% Cuishe.

Real Minero

Real Minero (previously Mezcal Real Minero) is considered by many to be one of the world’s finest mezcal producers. The Angeles family has been making mezcal for several generations in Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca. Their mezcal is made in small clay pot stills, and almost all of it is rested in glass for several months before bottling, giving the mezcal a much softer character. Outside of creating great spirits, they also have one of the largest and most diverse sustainable agave reforestation programs. With the help of the community, they’ve been able to rescue several agave varieties that were previously thought to be extinct. The ABV of each batch may vary slightly, so check your bottle for details.

In 2020, the brand began dropping the word “mezcal” from their labels. The term “traditional” replaces the CRM “ancestral” designation. Shortly thereafter, the brand officially parted ways with the certification process; all future releases will be labeled as “agave spirits” or something similar. Despite the label changes, nothing significant about their production process has changed over years.

Learn more:

• Real Minero agave nursery tour on Mezcal Reviews
• Real Minero palenque tour on Mezcal Reviews
• Listen to Graciela Angeles Carreño talk about her family’s production on the Show De Vie Podcast: Ep 291 – Graciela Angeles Carreño – The Real Thing.