Destilado de Agave Pechuga 'Rooster Guava'

• 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 a traditional copper pot still
• Addition of rooster breast, mole negra, and guava leaf on the third distillation
• Notes of star fruit, mandarin peel, corn silk, dragon fruit, golden raisins, toasted almond, anise, cacao, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, sea salt
• 50.5% ABV (ABV may vary batch to batch)

A spectacular example of pechuga from Puebla, where this special style of mezcal is often distilled with mole. Maestro Sergio Salas collaborated with his wife, chef Jazmín Ponce, to make this tiny batch. Mole negra is paired with guava leaf, rooster breast, and the distillate of Papalométl agave. Wild!

Tasting Notes

Around the world, a popular association with the Mexican state of Puebla is its famous dish, mole poblano. A staple of the state’s culinary heritage, it is thus no small wonder that a common tradition among many maestro mezcaleros in Puebla is to incorporate mole or other historic spices & flavors of their community in their pechuga, as though each batch of mezcal were a unique dish in the kitchen, rather than a spirt in the still.

To make this spectacular example of pechuga, Balbino and Sergio recruited one of the finest chefs in San Miguel Atapulco: Sergio’s wife, Jazmín Ponce. Crafting her remarkable mole negra—with ingredients including chile, chocolate, raisin, almond, sesame, garlic, baking spices, and anise—Jazmín finishes the recipe by adding the unique and unmistakable flavor of fresh guava leaves. As is the tradition with true pechuga, a protein is added: a rooster breast is prepared as though it were destined for the dinner table, slathered in the mole, and suspended during the third distillation run inside their copper pot stills.

Though the practice is not unique to the Salas family, few examples walk quite such a clear, deliberate, and delicate balance between the umami and savory spice of the mole with poultry, the bright fruit of the Papalométl, and the deep funk of anise and guava leaf. Easily one of the most exciting pechuga to pass our lips, this batch is also one of the rarest.