Macurichos Astor Select Cirial Jabalí Mezcal - 2017

A winter batch from a vintage nearly a decade ago, distilled in February 2017 from a very rare combo (though a specialty of this house) of Cirial and Jabali agaves. Gonzalo and the family at Macurichos seem to be masters of cirial in particular, an agave that other mezcaleros struggle to convey with the same vivid intensity as this distiller. After the eight years of resting in the family cellar the flavors are coiled around a core of orange blossom notes with precise and intense notes that unravel on the palate of persimmon, clementine, fig, lavender, cocoa and slightly funky herbs. Bottled exclusively for us after tasting it with Gonzalo at the family cellar in Oaxaca, this batch yielded only 66 bottles. Bottled with a custom one-off label that honors the generations of the Sernas family's commitment to the traditions of Oaxaca.