Koch El Maguey Espadin Mezcal 46.75%

Description

Koch El Maguey Espadin Mezcal is artisanally distilled joven Mezcal made in the Oaxaca region of South Western Mexico. Is it made from the Maguey Espadin (Maguey is another name for the Agave cactus) sourced from San Baltazar Guelavila and enjoys protected status with a “Denominacion de Origen Protegida”.

Koch El Mezcal is a relatively new company, founded in 2009, which was set up with the purpose of helping to recover and boost traditional, hand-crafted Mezcal from the different regions in Oaxaca. They are passionate in the idea of terroir and the use of different single variety agave in their spirits. The Koch El Mezcal range has now grown to over 25 different products which are made from wild, cultivated and semi-cultivated agaves.

Tequila is a type of Mezcal (or mescal) that can only be made from one type of agave, the blue agave, however Mezcal can be made from up to 18 different types of agave. This particular one is made from the espadin agave, or “smallsword”, latin name Agave angustifolia. Agave harvest is quite labour intensive, agave are harvested by jimaderos (jima is the process of harvesting the agave) who, in a normal 8 hour day, harvest around 70 cones (or quiotas) weighing 50 to 100 kgs, around 3.5 tonnes in total. This will produce some 350 litres of mezcal. The agave for this mezcal are allowed to grow to 7 years old before they are harvested. Once the cones have been harvested they are roasted in wood-fuelled tapered stone ovens, which gives a smoky flavour, before they are mashed. Once mashed they are them fermented with yeast and water to produce the alcoholic liquid to be distilled. Koch El Maguey Espadin Mezcal is double distilled and bottled un-aged as a joven at 46.75% ABV. Distilled under the watchful eye of master Mezcalero Pedro Hernandez.

Koch El Mezcal pride themselves on Agave self-sufficiency, sustainable use of water and forest resources, and a proper waste management to minimise their impact on the environment. They replant tens of thousands of agave each year.