Real Minero Espadin Mezcal
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This sultry Espadín is double distilled in clay pots and exhibits notes of sage and pear skin, with a long, dry finish.
Proof: 102.2
From the Angeles Carreno family in Santa Catarina Minas comes the brand Real Minero, helmed by fourth-generation mezcal producers Graciela Angeles Carreno, and her brother Edgar. Graciela is considered one of the thought-leaders in the field, conducting extensive scientific and historic research into agave and mezcal. She employs several botanists who work with the brand to maintain a nursery and laboratory dedicated to protecting, preserving, and studying the plants, vigorously champions social justice and economic and labor issues within the mezcal industry, and funnels a portion of proceeds into creating the first library in the rural mining community of Santa Catarina Minas. Yet, it is as deeply rustic and culturally historic as mezcal production can get.
Roughly translated as “royal miner,” the brand is exemplary of the Minero style of mezcal which can only be certified from Santa Catarina Minas, specifically. Minero implies a production method otherwise referred to as en barro or en olla; distillation occurs in handmade, clay pots using a carved, wooden spoon suspended on string to collect condensed distillate. Much of their agave is broken down after cooking by hand-mashing with massive, wooden bats—like a mortar and pestle of overwhelming size.
These countryside methods have not changed in hundreds of years. Renowned for the quality, clarity, and unique character of their Minero mezcal, as well as for their deep integrity and conservationist agricultural practices, Edgar and Graciela simultaneously represent a rich, cultural history and the best way forward into the future of mezcal.
Mezcal Joven or “young” is bottled within two months of distillation without barrel aging and will appear clear, like a Vodka or Gin. Longer barrel aging, with the principal aim to soften and round a spirit’s flavor profile, is often most prized by connoisseurs. However, many die-hard Mezcal enthusiasts insist that oak takes away from the purity of the agave flavors—ranging from earthy and smoky to sweet and floral, often in the same Mezcal—and that Mezcal Joven is the best expression.