Destilado de Agave Penca Larga 'Hermogenes Vasquez'

• Destilado de Agave produced in Logoche, San Luis Amatlán, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
• Maestro Mezcalero: Hermógenes Vásquez
• 100% Penca Larga (Fucraea sp.)
• Cooked in a conical underground oven
• Crushed with a small mechanical grinder
• Fermented in open air sabino (cypress) vats (tinas)
• Distilled twice using traditional copper pot stills with condenser (refrescadera)
• 45% ABV (ABV may vary batch to batch)

Known locally as Penca Larga (essentially meaning “long leaf”), this plant has recently been discovered to, in fact, be a subspecies of a different genus, Fucraea, from the Asparagaceae family (similar to agave and sotol). Thus, while they may be cousins, this is not an agave at all! Mind. Blown.

Tasting Notes

Logoche, Miahuatlán is fast becoming an internationally revered distilling community within the mezcal world. Among the most iconic distillers in Logoche are Hermogenes García Vasquez, Paula Aquino Sanchez, and their son Jorge, who work together to produce just around 1500 liters of mezcal per year. The exceptional quality of their spirits clearly reflects the sensitivity and passion with which they work—truly a privilege to experience. Hermogenes himself is known to wax poetic about the flavors and aromas he experiences in each individual batch.

Though Logoche is widely known for its Tobalá, Tepextate, and diverse Agave karwinskii, mezcaleros in the region have also historically purchased other species from mountain communities at higher elevation in Oaxaca’s Sierra Sur above. One of these, known locally as Penca Larga (essentially meaning “long leaf”), has recently been discovered to, in fact, be a subspecies of a different genus, Fucraea, from the Asparagaceae family (similar to agave and sotol). Thus, while they may be cousins—and while the name Penca Larga may be used to describe members of the Agave genus in other communities—in Logoche, this is not an agave at all.

Mind. Blown.

A true and distinctive rarity, from the plant to the people, and a gem for any agave enthusiast.