• Mezcal produced at Palenque 3 Mezquites in San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca
• Selected by the Skurnik Spirits Portfolio and bottled exclusively for Skurnik Wines & Spirits
• Maestro Mezcalero Gregorio Martínez García
• Distilled from 100% Tepeztate (Agave marmorata)
• Cooked in a stone-lined conical earthen pit oven
• Crushed using a horse-drawn stone mill (tahona)
• Open-air fermented in pine wooden tanks (tinas)
• Distilled twice using traditional copper pot stills
• Crisp aromatics full of lime zest, marigold, candied orange, Sichuan peppercorn, apple cider, mango, dried hatch chili, sea breezes and iodine; a cleansing palate with maritime influences, full of lavender, raspberry, lemon zest, a hint of citronella, coconut, and bright saline. Wildly unique!
• Distilled in 2017; only 180 bottles produced
• 48.3% ABV
Last year, one of the first and most beloved mezcaleros to work with Casa Cortés on the Nuestra Soledad and El Jolgorio projects, Gregorio “Don Goyo” Martínez García, passed away with little warning. A charismatic character, a welcoming host, and a true pleasure to be around, he left a massive hole in many hearts. Today, the Cortés family has a small amount of Don Goyo’s mezcales still in store waiting to be bottled, and last fall they alerted Skurnik that there was one final batch of his tepeztate still available. We jumped at the chance to take it, honored by the opportunity. This is not a “classic” tepeztate by any means; it’s challenging and does not fit into the profile one would typically expect from the species. It’s a curveball, for sure, and a parting gift from Don Goyo to share and remember. He likely would have enjoyed confounding everyone’s expectations, one last time.