A fascinating, single-varietal mezcal from the ultra-modern Bozal company.

Bozal translates from Spanish as “wild” or “untamed” and is a reference to the wild species of Mexican agave the company chooses to use for their spirits.

This particular bottling is made with the Cuishe agave, one of the most striking and distinctive species.

Cuishe is a subspecies of the Karwinskii family of agave, and grows vertically with a single stalk, and its leaves spreading at the pinnacle of said stalk. The agave is rarely used to make mezcal, as its strange structure makes harvesting the plant and isolating the piña (the fleshy heart of the agave which is used to make Tequila and mezcal) difficult.

Those brave souls who do attempt to produce spirit with Cuishe are rewarded with spirit rich in tropical fruit flavours, minerality and dry pine agave notes.

This bottling has been produced in the town of San Luis Amatlán in the province of Oaxaca. The spirit is made in the traditional fashion, with the agave hearts cooked in earthen pits, and crushed by a millstone turned by a horse or donkey. Open air fermentation with wild yeast is used, and the spirit is double distilled in old fashioned copper mezcal stills.

The final result is a mezcal rich in notes of cooked sweet potato, pineapple, peaches, mashed bananas, green succulent agave notes, some tomato leaf, dry smoke and coriander spice.

This is a Joven (unaged) mezcal bottled at a warming 47% ABV.

Sip neat.

• Distillery / brand
  Bozal
• Country
  Mexico
• Non-chillfiltered
  No
• Natural colour
  Yes
• SKU
  041796