elements table
tasting notes
Maestro Mezcaleros
Luis Arellanes Cruz + Rufino Felipe Martinez
Santa Catarina Minas in Oaxaca, is a town known for their traditional clay pot distillation style handed down by mezcalero families. Maestro Luis Arellanes Cruz was taught by his uncle Rufino a 3rd generation maestro mezcalero. On the third distillation, local cacao was added to the clay pot. Only 84 bottles were made.
Agave:
In Luis & Rufino's Destilado con Cacao, the master distillers began by harvesting mature agave Espadin (a. Angustifolia) , a varietal that takes 6 to 8 years to develop.
Milling and Fermentation:
Don Rufino & Luis mills the cooked agave by hand using large wooden mallets. The duo & team then ferments the crushed agave with local spring water in cypress wood vats which could take anywhere from 3-5 days to reach the desired sugar content.
Distillation:
Luneta's Destilado con Cacao was distilled three times.
The fermented agave is twice distilled in a clay pot still. During the third distillation Luis & Rufino add the local cacao to the clay pot still.
Cut:
The hearts, heads and tails are then mix to yield a balanced blend of 49.1% abv.