Destilado de Agave Pechuga 'Milpa' Criollo Corn

• Pechuga produced in San Miguel Atlapulco, Puebla
• Maestro Mezcaleros Balbino & Sergio Salas in collaboration with chef Jazmín Ponce
• 100% Papalométl (Agave potatorum)
• Cooked in a conical earthen oven
• Milled by hand using wooden mallet & canoa in addition to a small mechanical grinder
• Fermented with ambient yeast and spring water in stainless steel tanks
• Distilled three times using traditional copper pot still
• Addition of Criollo heirloom corn, huitlacoche, squash, and pipicha leaf on third distillation
• Grilled corn husk, red licorice, cherry, peach fuzz, fresh brick powder, ricotta, cut green wood, candied pear, and a vague aroma of kerosene lantern
• 67 bottles produced
• 49.1% ABV (ABV may vary batch to batch)

Chef Jazmín Ponce and agave advocate Orlando Estrada collaborated with maestro mezcaleros Sergio & Balbino Salas on this special batch, adding crops (corn, beans, squash, fungus) of the local farming system described by the term milpa to the still during a third distillation of Papalométl (aka Tobalá) mezcal. Informed by rigorous research, the milpa ingredients are added in direct ratio to the representation of each crop in the fields.

Tasting Notes

Milpa is a term used to describe the traditional Mesoamerican practice of integrated farming, where crops such as squash, beans, and corn are grown together and in rotation. Their coexistence naturally preserves and enhances nutrients in the soil and biodiversity among the plants, and this system has provided the basis of diet for Mexican communities for hundreds of years, long before the Spanish occupation of the 16th Century.

Tlamati’s ‘Milpa’ release is an homage and celebration of this gastronomic heritage which is still preserved in communities throughout rural Mexico. Drawing inspiration directly from their community in Puebla’s Sierra de Tentzo, chef Jazmín Ponce (wife of mezcalero Sergio Salas) and agave educator & advocate Orlando Estrada (co-founder, with the Salas family, of Tlamati) studied the precise ratios of different crops being grown among the region’s milpa farming systems.  After the family’s Papalométl agave is cooked, milled, fermented, and distilled twice, these milpa crop components are added to the copper pot, in proportions that mirror their agricultural balance, along with a small amount huitlacoche (a corn fungus historically prized in indigenous Mexican cuisine) and pipicha (aka tepache—a slender green herb bursting with flavors of pine, mint, citrus, and cilantro). The spirit is distilled around 2 more hours, yielding a soft, sweet mezcal full of ripe fruit and savory umami. A fantastic and fitting tribute! In limited supply, only 67 bottles were produced at 49.1% ABV.