Cuentacuentos García Cuixe / Tobasiche / Serafín Mezcal

Made by Lalo García — a single Oaxacan distiller working with three wild agave varieties (Cuixe, Tobasiche, Serafín). Each agave brings something different: Cuixe gives green/floral lift, Tobasiche brings spice and depth, Serafín adds savoury earth. The blend is layered, complex, distinct. Single palenquero, single batch.

Serafín García Gerónimo distils on a hillside outside San Dionisio Ocotepec in Oaxaca's central valleys. Cuixe and tobasiche are both local names for Agave karwinskii. It grows wild on a tall woody stalk rather than a rosette on the ground. The stalks give up little juice, so a lot of plants go into every batch.

The agave roasts for three days in an underground pit oven, then a horse-drawn tahona crushes it. Fermentation runs wild for five or six days before two passes through a small, well insulated copper still. Serafín uses the tails to bring the spirit to about 48 percent, and each lot is only a few hundred bottles. His daughter Cristina now distils nearby.

Karwinskii mezcals run crisper and more acidic than espadín, with a green, fresh cut edge. Sip it neat from a small glass and give it a minute to open.