Mezcal, Destilado con Bufalo

• Mezcal distilled with water buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and various fruits in Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, at Casa Palacios (NOM 0654X)
• Maestro Mezcalero Flavio Pérez Méndez
• Made using 100% Espadín (Agave angustifolia) matured 8 years
• Cooked in a conical earthen pit using Encino oak that has been certified as sustainably harvested
• Milled by horse-drawn stone tahona
• Fermented in traditional wooden vats (tinas) using well water
• Distilled twice using an alembic copper pot still
• During the second distillation, water buffalo meat is suspended in a net inside the pot still while a variety of fresh Oaxacan fruits are added directly to the mezcal
• 50.4% ABV

Visiting a butcher in Oaxaca City, Salvador was surprised to discover African water buffalo being offered among the selections of meat. Imported to Mexico decades ago, the buffalo were now being raised on a ranch in the state of Tabasco, to the north and east of Oaxaca. Inspired, Sal consulted with Lalo (his mezcalero-chef nephew working with Flavio at the palenque), and together they created a mélange of Oaxacan fruits to complement the buffalo—including tejocote, apple, orange, mandarin, mango, pineapple, guava, platano, and star fruit—with an emphasized citrus profile.