Pulquero | April 2020 | Celso García Cruz | PLQCEL2004 | Fall 2021 Release | 84 bottles

Revered for thousands of years but historically reserved for the collection of aguamiel for pulque production, the Agave americana Pulquero plants of Miahuatlán have only in the last decade or so become used in the production of distilled spirits. Celso first experimented with these agaves in 2016;  despite the minimal yield, the end result was nothing short of spectacular, with flavors and aromas that no one in the village had experienced before. Since then, Celso has planted thousands of Pulquero agaves and has continued to make a small amount every year or two, depending on the availability of mature maguey, which despite its rarity, he is able to occasionally source through a pulquero friend nearby. For the crafting of batch PLQCEL2004, Celso harvested a mix of eight capón and en guía magueyes known locally as (Pulquero) Penca Larga, an appropriate name for a maguey with leaves so large they tend to droop and bend over each other.

While these Pulquero magueyes produce abundant amounts of sweet aguamiel nectar when the mature piña is carved open and scraped, the agaves themselves have very low sugar levels compared to many of their counterparts, with distilled yields similar to those of Tepextate. Perhaps the greatest detractor in working with the agave is its massive size and weight, with one or two piñas being large enough to fill up an entire truck bed. Although it may not be the most practical agave for the production of large quantities, the Pulquero can make a truly impressive spirit, with its unique flavors and aromas. Helping Celso along the making of this batch was his wife, Felipa, who herself descends from a long line of palenqueros.

§  Maguey(es): Pulquero (Agave americana var.)

§  Provenance of the maguey: grown by a local pulque producer

§  Producer: Celso García Cruz

§  Region: Logoche, Miahuatlán

§  Date of production: April 2020

§  Soil type: Red, rocky earth - tierra roja cascajo

§  Rest time after harvest: Eight days

§  Oven: Conical earthen oven; Eight days with tepehuahe and rebiguano wood

§  Rest time after oven: Six days

§  Maceration: Machete and mechanical shredder

§  Fermentation: Native yeasts; Two 1200L Montezuma cypress sabino wood vats

§  Dry fermentation time: 24 hours

§  Wet fermentation time: Seven days

§  Distillation: 2x in copper pot stills

§  Final composition: Heads, hearts, and a splash of distilled water

§  Batch size: 80L

§  ABV: 47.7%