Destilado de Agave, Puya - 9th Floor Skurnik Selection

• Destilado de Agave produced in in the Mixteca Baja, Oaxaca
• Selected by the Skurnik Spirits Portfolio and bottled exclusively for Skurnik Wines & Spirits
• Maestro Mezcalero Antonio Trujano
• 100% Puya (Agave salmiana tehuacanensis)
• Cooked in a conical stone pit oven
• Milled using a small horse-drawn stone mill (tahona)
• Fermented in sabino (cypress) wood vats (tinas) using spring water
• Distilled twice in a traditional copper pot still
• Though the nose is potent enough to climb right out of the glass, the aromas remain delicate in profile, a balancing act between roasted bell pepper and orange creamsicle with waves of hard strawberry candy, cracked black peppercorn, broken slate, caulk, and whipping cream. The palate is generous, with a silky texture and flavors that lean more deeply into the fruit than the vegetal, and a finish that brings things back to earth with a touch of damp garden soil and a memory of spice. 
• 80 liters produced
• 49% ABV

Puya (meaning “spine” or “spike”) is a regional, endemic subspecies of Agave salmiana. It is the most abundant variety of agave in the Mixteca Baja region, which straddles the border between Oaxaca and Puebla at around 6,000 feet above sea level. However, it is almost never used to make mezcal; instead, it is cultivated for the production of pulque. Massive plants, with broad thick leaves ending in the long sharp spine for which it was named, Agave salmiana tehuacanensis yields very low sugars and is distilled by only a handful of mezcaleros in all of Oaxaca.

The Trujano brothers—Antonio, Javier, and Leobardo—are some of those mezcaleros. Their agave grows within the surrounding mountainside, with the brothers often riding out on horseback for several days to complete their harvest. Once or twice a year they make a batch of their coveted Puya, and last year, we were lucky enough to purchase the entirety of this tiny production for Skurnik Wines & Spirits. We are privileged to offer this rare spirit—this unique window into the Mixteca Baja—to mezcal lovers across the United States.

Tasting Notes

Puya (meaning “spine” or “spike”) is a regional endemic subspecies of Agave salmiana. It is the most abundant variety of agave in the Mixteca Baja region, which straddles the border between Oaxaca and Puebla at around 6,000 feet above sea level. However, it is almost never used to make mezcal; instead, it is cultivated for the production of pulque. Massive plants, with broad thick leaves ending in the long sharp spine for which it was named, Agave salmiana tehuacanensis yields very low sugars and is distilled by only a handful of mezcaleros in all of Oaxaca.

The Trujano brothers—Antonio, Javier, and Leobardo—are some of those mezcaleros. The “Hermanos Trujano” live together on a small ranch in a river valley just south of Oaxaca’s border with the state of Puebla. Their picturesque palenque features a small stone-lined oven, dug into the ground, which sits beside a miniature stone tahona, an array of wood fermentation vats, and a single copper alembic still, all housed beneath a thin palm roof. Their agave grows within the surrounding mountainside, with the brothers often riding out on horseback for several days to complete their harvest.

Their batches are small—rarely exceeding 80 liters—and carry a unique profile quite unlike any other region in Oaxaca; the majority of their mezcal is sold and consumed locally, never leaving the Mixteca Baja. They primarily distill the region’s more widely known Espadilla and Papalometl, but once or twice a year they make a batch of their coveted Puya. Last year, we were lucky enough to purchase the entirety of this tiny production for Skurnik Wines & Spirits, and now we are privileged to offer this rare spirit—this unique window into the Mixteca Baja—to mezcal lovers across the United States.