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| Welcome to the July edition of Back Bar Project's Mezcal Newsletter: a destination for important information related to Back Bar Project's Mexican spirits portfolio. The landscape of Mexican spirits is developing rapidly. With multiple producers in various regions, and batch-specific brands and bottlings, the BBP portfolio is fun to represent. However, it can, at times, be complex and tough to track. Our goal with this newsletter is to keep you fully informed about special events, new producers, new batch releases, annual release black bottles, label changes, newsworthy stories in the world of mezcal, and much, much more...
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| Fermented mosto loading into the still on the first distillation. |
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| Joel Hernandez sharing his personal collection of mezcal in La Compañía, Ejutla |
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| Trimming Karwinskii piñas in Lachigui, Miahuatlán. |
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| In July, Back Bar Project will welcome the arrival of the next batch of El Jolgorio Espadín. Edition 08 of the Espadín was produced in the tiny town of San Luis del Rio, by mezcalero Rafael Mendez. Casa Cortés produces several different Espadín expressions under the Nuestra Soledad range, but the Espadin offerings for the El Jolgorio brand are distinct and unique. Each bottling of El Jolgorio Espadín is carefully selected by the Cortés family alongside the mezcaleros within the collective. In the past, these batches included mezcal that was glass-rested, also called Madurado en Vidrio, under the new classification system. For Edition 08, Casa Cortés selected a special batch of Espadín "Capón."
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| Mezcalero Rafael Mendez at his distillery in San Luis del Rio. |
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| The term Capón signifies that, prior to harvest, the mezcalero allows the agaves to grow their quiotes. A quiote (pronounced kee-oh-tay) is the long, tree-like reproductive organ that soars into the air, often up to 20-25 feet, carrying seeds to be spread by wind, water, and animals. For Espadín specifically, it takes between 7-10 years for an agave to fully mature, depending on its growing conditions, at which point it produces its quiote.
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| Brothers Fabian (right) and Ivan Mendez harvesting Espadín in San Luis del Rio. |
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| Aerial views over the mountainside village of San Luis del Rio. |
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| The word Capón comes from the word capar or castrar which means: to castrate. It is a strong word, but the quiote is considered the male reproductive organ, bearing seeds and bulbs that can be re-sown to grow more agave, or also spread naturally. The Agave reaches its full maturity just before the quiote begins to appear at the top-center of the agave. At that time, it is called Pavilo, and it is a perfectly good time to harvest. During that short time that the agave remains planted with the quiote (usually about 4 months), the piña begins to draw in more sugar from the roots and soil in an attempt to continue growing. Many mezcaleros believe that this harvesting practice results in mezcal with greater depth and complexity.
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| The inside of a quiote is fibrous. |
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| In July, Back Bar Project will receive a rare new bottling of El Jolgorio Madrecuishe (Edition 11) for the U.S. market, produced by the Cortés family themselves. Of course, Casa Cortés has many years of experience distilling Madrecuishe, but has never bottled a batch of Madrecuishe produced in Santiago Matatlan under the El Jolgorio label. Edition 11 is made by Gregorio Martinez Jarquín, brother-in-law of Valentin Cortes. Normally, the pair work together in the De Cortés palenque and, with around 60 years of combined experience, produce some of the finest quality mezcals in Santiago Matatlán. This batch, however, was made by Don Gregorio only, revealing the specificity with regard to the label information. The batch consists of only 336 bottles. The agaves were 14 years old at the time of harvest. Notably, due to new labeling laws that seek to standardize the often confusing names of agave varieties as they relate to mezcal labeling, the product name written on the label previously read "Madrecuixe" but, in the future, will fall in line with the labeling standards and read "Madrecuishe."
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Gregorio Martinez Jarquin and Valentin Cortes (brothers-in-law)
have a wealth of knowledge between them. |
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| El Jolgorio Madrecuishe label. |
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| Wild agave Madrecuishe, a member of the Karwinskii family of agaves. |
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| Our customers love mezcal, especially the variety within our portfolio. Each sequential Edition of El Jolgorio and Nuestra Soledad is different than the last, oftentimes with consecutive Editions of an El Jolgorio expression being produced by a different mezcalero, in a different region of Oaxaca. Our goal is to continuously provide clear updates on in-coming batches of mezcal, so our distributor partners can effectively communicate this information to their clients and track our bottlings, Edition-by-Edition. Please see the incoming July shipment of mezcal, below:
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| Brand |
Product |
Edition |
ABV |
Village |
Producer |
| El Jolgorio |
Madrecuishe |
11 |
48% |
Santiago Matatlan |
Gregorio Martinez Jarquín |
| El Jolgorio |
Tepeztate |
17 |
47% |
San Luis del Rio |
Rafael Mendez |
| El Jolgorio |
Barril |
7 |
47% |
Compañia, Ejutla |
Gregorio Hernandez |
| El Jolgorio |
Espadín |
8 |
47.8% |
San Luis del Rio |
Rafael Mendez |
| El Jolgorio |
Tobalá |
15 |
47% |
San Baltazar |
Gregorio Martinez García |
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| The El Jolgorio Special Release series represents some of the rarest and most special entries in the mezcal category. Each year, the producers at El Jolgorio select small batches of mezcal to release as a part of this limited edition, in a special black bottle. Given the current demand for mezcal in the U.S., these bottlings are highly sought after and don't last long. Put simply, we should all feel privileged to receive the tiny quantities as mezcals of this calibre are normally retained by the mezcaleros for local consumption. In 2018, all special releases will be available for mid-September allocation and shipment. The bottlings will include: Cenizo, Tobaziche, Jabali, Arroqueño, and Coyote.*
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| El Jolgorio: Jabali, Arroqueño, Tobaziche, Coyote, & Cenizo. |
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Please reach out to David Muñoz
for ordering information.
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Contact
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| *Due to limited quantities, we cannot guarantee availability of this product.
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