When I was a kid growing up in Northeast Michigan, it was exciting to go to Detroit. In my 20s excitement meant Chicago and New York City. In my 30s I discovered California; now THAT was exciting. And in my 40s I decided San Diego in particular was my favorite city in the US. I still like all of those places, but now? Let’s be clear…
Nothing. Touches. Oaxaca.
So, if you’ve been following, this was Day 3 of our Oaxacan adventure last month. Alex was getting all kinds of great video, and I was getting all kinds of great mezcal! I had in mind going to two palenques this day—both in San Dionisio Ocotepec.
I knew I wanted to see Ulises García and his maestro father Gelacio. I’d been there last year and loved their outstandingly clean Espadín and their transcendent Espadín Capón. But I also wanted to see a maestro I’d never met before—but whose mezcal I’d been introduced to in 2020 when traffic to the palenques was grinding to a halt.
His name was Jose Manuel Méndez, and he made something called a Del Monte that to this day stands as one of the most distinctively different and beautiful distillations I’ve ever had. He also had a magnificent Tepextate. So I found him, discovered his WhatsApp number and messaged him before our trip in order to get directions to his palenque. Today, Ruben was driving, and he had no trouble finding the spot.
Jose Manuel Méndez
Upon arriving, we found the molida and tahona in full operation…
This palenque does not appear to be particularly large, but as you’ll see down the page a bit—and as I’ve discovered with other producers—that doesn’t mean it’s not frigging BUSTLING! It appears he’s doing a fair amount of volume here, with some of his batches being in the 500 liter range.
I wondered if his Tepextate was as good as the one from 2 years ago. The thing I love about it: it features that full, green Tepextate flavor and aroma, but was especially soft. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know “soft” isn’t necessarily what I’m going for personally. But so many others are! And I like to find things like this to share with them. Additionally though, I’m kind of beguiled by it, not to mention impressed by a maestro who can pull this off. How does he do it? Would his current Tepextate lote, distilled in April of 2021, be similar?
It was! Not exactly, but pretty close. Last time I measured it at 46%, but this batch was 49%. So just a touch more powerful, but noticeably softer than you’d expect. Why is that? Jose told me that about 85% of this batch was all Tepextate capón. (insert record scratch sound effect here).
Tepextate CAPÓN?!?! And he didn’t LEAD with that? To be succinct, a capón refers to the act of chopping an agave’s quiote off before it shoots far from the piña (or heart). The energy and sugars would normally travel up this quiote as it’s ready to reproduce, but in this case are instead preserved in the piña itself. After some months, they then make a batch from these castrated agaves. Many believe it enhances the flavor and other qualities in the final product.
Now maybe I’m missing something here, but I’d only had Espadín capóns before. My friend Job had told me he recently made a Tobalá capón, but I’d never heard of anyone making a batch of capón from a variety of agave that generally takes 25-30 years to mature! And this is not even mentioned until I ask how he made it so suave? Well suffice it to say I bought some!
Then we moved on to his Madrecuixe. (This almost requires another record scratch.) I mean, brother, it was just wet earth. All the earthiness and all the funk you’d want in a Karwinski, but again a smidgen less sharp than you’d imagine for a 48% product.
He also poured us a Tobalá, and I’m embarrassed to admit my mind and taste buds were still reeling from the previous two. It’s like I couldn’t move on from them. I recall liking it, but my mind/taste mechanism was temporarily short circuited. I think I’m going to ask Jose to send me some of his Tobalá soon, so I can try it again now that I’m home and have settled down.
As you’ll see below, this joven has plans…
Piñas, piñas everywhere, and a great variety of them. As I mentioned earlier, Jose Manuel Méndez is both making some fantastic mezcal and making quite a lot of it!
As we said our goodbyes to Jose and prepared to go see Gelacio and Ulises, Ruben mentioned that there was a mezcalera in the area he’d met before—and that we may be able to find her. We weren’t sure it would work out time-wise, but unfortunately we found no one home at Gelacio and Ulises’ palenque. We called a couple of times, but they were apparently working hard on some other project at a distance; so after around 45 minutes, we told him we’d catch him next time around, and started the hunt for this maestra Ruben knew of.
Good thing we had a little time, because this took awhile. Ruben knew the general area where the maestra lived, but the street wasn’t passable. So he parked Alex and I in a spot and walked to her home. She wasn’t there, but a worker was. He told us the maestra was at the palenque, and he would hop in and show us the way.
During this considerable drive it seemed as if the landscape changed a bit as we made our way into a valley. With oak trees everywhere, this didn’t seem like Oaxaca; it was a little more like my memories of rural Tennessee! (see below)
As we drove into this very remote, peaceful palenque, the maestra poked her head out. “Hey!” I thought. “I know her!”
Adela del Carmen Cruz Antonio
Adela del Carmen Cruz Antonio was featured—only a few months before—by the Maguey Melate folks. I’d heard founders Dalton Kreiss and Hanna Woodside interviewed on a mezcal-focused podcast a couple of years ago, subsequently finding their YouTube page, which must have over 200 video clip interview with various mezcaleros from all over Mexico. (more on Maguey Melate later)
If you watch her clips, you’ll realize why it was quite easy to recognize this lovely, young mezcalera. Just 22 years old, Adela’s father was a mediero (sharecropper) in the palenques of others. He’d provide the maguey, make it at someone else’s operation and they’d split the mezcal. Adela became intrigued by the process at the age of only 5! Her dad would explain to her how it was made and why he did things a certain way. Then when she was only 11 years old she had to give a school presentation on something that represented the community in San Dionisio Ocotepec.
She chose the making of mezcal!
Not long after winning awards for her presentation, she had occasion to speak with a former Mexican governor. Out of that conversation came help financing the family’s own palenque. Isn’t this a great story?!
Adela makes delicious mezcal! We tried a number of distillations that day, including an Espadín, a Madrecuixe and a Tepextate. All magical, but I decided I needed her Cirial!
It could be this Karwinski variety stood out to me because, although having sampled more than a few in the past, I’d never found a palenque offering to sell some in bulk. But the most likely reason is that it’s just outstanding! She shared that she needed to bring her father into this one as, after 2 distillations, it just didn’t taste right to her. But with a little help from dad, three was a charm! I tend to prefer no more than 2 distillations, thinking the more you distill, the more you lose the beauty. But what can I say? Although it is a bit refined, I still get a hearty roasted roots quality from it. Interestingly just this week I was asked to put on a tasting at our local garden club in San Miguel de Allende. I brought four options, but heard more rave comments about Adela’s Cirial than the others!
I’ve noticed in the last couple of years there has been a lot of spotlighting of female mezcaleros. The message I’m hearing seems to suggest they are fairly rare. While I’m sure there are many more males by comparison, the truth is I’ve found a good number of women for some years now who are either integral partners—or themselves in charge of various palenques. I’d say what I’ve noticed recently is a growing number of especially young maestros, but it stands to reason that—as time marches forward—more women will indeed have their own operations.
But really: Adela brings an extraordinary measure of passion to the production of mezcal. While I mentioned I’d very recently found her story on the Maguey Melate YouTube channel, she was more than happy to share it again—especially since we were making a little documentary.
This was what I’d call a great day! Sure, I was a little disappointed not to meet up with Gelacio and Ulises, but (again) we’ll catch them next time. Getting to meet Jose after having enjoyed his mezcal for 2 years was a treat. And meeting Adela at her beautiful, tranquil palenque—after having seen her interviews—was extra special too.
Maguey Melate’s Offer to Mezcal Maniac Subscribers
As I’ve only been writing Mezcal Maniac for about 8 months, I don’t always know what proper etiquette is. For instance, was it okay that I mentioned Maguey Melate? Hmmm. Instead of making a mistake, I decided to email them, and Dalton got back to me. He was fine with the mention, but after a brief exchange he even offered Mezcal Maniac subscribers a discount.
Discount on what exactly?
Maguey Melate offers a subscription service for mezcal lovers. There is one for those of you in the US, and even one for us here in Mexico. For a fee, you’ll be sent the real article: featured artesanal agave spirits every other month. And if this sounds good to you, just enter Maniac in the coupon code, and you’ll get free shipping (normally $15) plus an extra $5 off.
And, folks? I’m not sure how many of you have been to Oaxaca, but let me take just a moment to suggest you go! If your love for mezcal isn’t even quite at “maniac level,” I can’t imagine you won’t simply love it—both bouncing around Oaxaca’s centro, and especially venturing out into the palenques to meet these great maestros/maestras.
And if you have time on the way, stop off here to San Miguel de Allende. I’d love to meet you and share some of the mezcales I’ve found. Salud!