A must-have for any serious mezcal collector. This is the first mezcal made from the Henequn agave that is available in the US market. This distillation, made from cultivated Henequn agave, is a small-batch limited edition of 397 liters (roughly 500 bottles) from the personal collection of master mezcal producer Juan Hernndez Mndez in Santiago Matatln, Oaxaca.

Details

Master Mezcalero:Juan Hernndez Mndez & Hortensia Hernndez Martnez
NOM:NOM-0496X
Agave Varietal:Henequn
Scientific Name:Agave fourcroydes
Town / Municipality:Santiago Matatln
State:Oaxaca
Fermentation:Natural, Open-Vat Fermentation in Wood
Still Type:Copper Alembic
Date of Distillation:December 2017
Number of Liters in Distillation:397 Liters
ABV:45%

Tasting Notes:

Smooth and savory. Mineral and saline notes of clay and wet earth. Reminds us of the smell of fresh rain in the Oaxacan countryside. Also the subtle fragrance and sweetness of corn meal, evoking fresh atole and tamales. It is a smooth easy sipper, so the finish may surprise you: slightly spicy, with a tingly numbness that lingers on the tongue and reminds us of Sichuan peppercorns.

Backstory:

A must-have for any serious mezcal collector. This mezcal, made from cultivated Henequn pias, is a small-batch limited edition of only 397 liters. Master mezcalero Juan Hernndez Mndez made this rare distillation for his own personal collection, until his recent decision to transfer ownership to Erstwhile Mezcal.

Henequn, an agave plant native to the Yucatn Peninsula, once ruled and transformed the regions economy to such an extent that it came to be known as green gold. It is not native to, and thus rarely seen in, Oaxaca and other mezcal-producing regions of Mexico.

Valued for its fiber since pre-Hispanic times, Henequn has been used to make, among other things, twine, hammocks, sacks, baskets and thick ropes for mooring ships.

Henequn fiber, extracted from the leaves of the plant, is sometimes referred to as sisal the namesake of Sisal, a seaport town that was the principal port of Yucatn, Mexico during the heydays of Henequn fiber exportation.

The first written account documenting the use of Henequn in Yucatn for making ropes and other naval tools dates back to as early as 1783 in a report by Jos Mara Lanz (Spanish-Mexican mathematician, engineer and cartographer) during his employment by the Spanish Royal Navy.

Henequn takes five to seven years to mature. A tough and resilient plant, it is adapted to survive in arid climates with little water, and reproduces without being cultivated. Its sword-shaped leaves grow out thick, prominent trunks that can reach as tall as four to five feet.

The lot of pias that made our Henequn was originally bound for Jalisco, apparently intended as some sort of industrial mezcal (or possibly faux tequila?!) experiment. However, the pias were so tough that they broke the shredder, and had to be sent back.

Somewhere along the way, our partner producer Juan Hernndez Mndez intercepted and purchased this lot of henequn pias. Henequn may be tough, but ultimately no match for Juans moxie andtahona(stone mill)!

I will never forget the first time we tasted our Henequn. I was with Juan and his wife Hortensia, feasting on simple-but-so-delicious quesadillas fresh from their comal, and being regaled with copita after copita of mezcal, each of which was made from a different species of wild agave and delightful in its own right.

The Henequn did not appear until toward the end. Through the open door, a rainstorm raged outside over Carretera Internacional (arguably the Main Street of Santiago Matatln) while I basked in the warmth and pleasure of the Hernndezes hospitality.

Juan brought out the Henequn and poured copitas quietly, without much fanfare.

That flavor. It struck me fast and direct, like a quiet thunderbolt. Smooth and savory. Saline and mineral. Slightly spicy, with a surprising finish of tingly numbness on the tongue that reminds me of Sichuan peppercorns. And the smell of rain in the fresh country air.

It was love at first sip.