*ABV will vary for each batch at the discretion of the mezcalero
Agave angustifolia
7 years
San Luis Amatlán
Stone mill
2
Cultivated
Floor oven
In Sabino vats
Alembic
48%
Marcos & Eleazar Brena
Scientific Name
Maturation
Pueblo
Trituration
Distillations
Growth
Cooking
Fermentation
Distillation
Alcohol
Maestros Mezcaleros
Tasting Notes
Floral, perfume and spice aromas jump out of the glass. Wood and dried tangerine peel dominate the palate, followed by delicate lemongrass and robust anise, into a seemingly endless peppery finish.
Agave
Espadín Capón (agave angustifolia) refers to mezcal that is only made from the agave “capado”. This means that 100% of the piñas (agave cores) which are used for mezcal production have started growing a quiote or flowering stalk. When an agave plant flowers, a large amount of energy is required to grow the 20-foot-tall flower. When the quiote is cut off by the maestros, the sugar that would have been used to grow the flower is concentrated in the piña. When agave is harvested for regular mezcal the mother agave is harvested along with the baby agaves (hijuelos) that sprout off the mother plant. The baby agaves are put in the oven with the mother agave but are not as productive since they are smaller and have not yet flowered.
To produce Espadín Capón, only the biggest and strongest mother plants are selected and used for processing. In Espadín Capón the average weight is 90 kg per piña. The concentrated sugars from cutting the agave flowers gives Espadín Capón a sweeter and more complex flavor with hints of floral and fruit notes. To produce our regular Espadín, we use 80% mother agaves and 20% baby agaves that are collected during the agave harvest. All our Espadín is 100% cultivated in the San Luis Amatlán area.
Mezcalero Comment
For Espadín Capón, maestros Marcos y Eleazar only uses the biggest, heaviest and most sugary agaves—the cream of the crop. Capón means that the agave is in it´s exact fullest point of maturation.
This Batch Spirit
November 2017
The batch was cooked separately but at the same time than our regular Espadín. There were no unexpected weather events and the distillation was very efficient. When only Capón agave is processed the amount of mezcal produced per kg of agave skyrockets. In this batch, 1 liter of mezcal was produced for each 6kg of Capón agave versus a more typical 1 liter per 10kg agave for regular Espadín.