Mezcalosfera, Mezcal Pechuga Sheep and Fruits 750ml

Mezcal Pechuga, 45% ABV

Mihuatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico

Job Cortès, a 3rd generation maestro who specializes in distilling with added flavors. A pechuga of sheep and mixed fruit with Job's familial Espadin distilled in Mezcalosfera's brand new palenque in Mihuatlan, Oaxaca. The agaves are cooked in an earthen oven over local wood, crushed by horse with a stone wheel, fermented naturally in wood, and distilled twice. The pechuga is added for the second distillation. There were, in total, only 60 liters of this mezcal produced.

The mission of Mezcalosfera is simple: offer an outlet for mezcaleros to produce, essentially, whatever they want in whatever quantities they think will work, buy and bottle the entire lot, and pay the Mezcalero upfront significantly more than they’d make for producing schlock for a larger brand, while taking care of all the paperwork and headaches. It’s all about keeping money in the community and keeping villages together, the mezcals tasting heartbreakingly delicious is a “happy accident.”

Because of the vast diversity of Mezcals Mezcalosfera produces, it’s hard to generalize a house style, but founder, Silvia Philion asks all the maestros to adhere to a few simple rules. The agaves are farmed without chemical inputs and processed without industrial ovens. Fermentation is natural, and the spirits never have water (or anything else!) added to adjust them – true mezcal is bottled at least 45% alcohol, and often quite a bit higher. While Silvia is a proponent of aging Mezcal, she stipulates only in glass – the taste of wood is anathema to the subtle flavors of a proper mezcal. Other than those outlines, the mezcals produced by Mezcalosfera are uproariously different from each other, bearing the marks of different personalities, agaves, regions, experimental techniques and, often, whims – as Silvia will buy and bottle even micro-lots, there’s a very clear sense of play, of exploration, of bricolage among the offerings. While traditionally made, the spirits of Mezcalosfera are by no means tradition-bound – indeed, they hew closer to the cutting edge, mezcal made by and for people who spend a lot of time thinking about mezcal.

Crouched in the absolute center of the property lies the new epicenter of the project – Mezcalosfera’s own palenque, run by the redoubtable Job and Felipe Cortes, but open to any of the maestros if they need a spot to work. From here, the brothers craft some of the most memorable spirits in the whole portfolio, including Job’s specialty; Espadins distilled with fruits, which we were lucky enough to see him distill.