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Fellow Drammers,
I've got the full lineup for our mezcal tasting on Tuesday (Feb. 25, 7pm). They're bringing a LOT of expressions, and since they're generously contributing everything, the cost of the event is just $10/person to cover pizza. Between that and our kickoff event in Princeton on Monday and our Japanese whisky event with dekanta on Wednesday, we've got a seriously high end week of drinking ahead of us.
But back to the mezcal, first of all, this is the first time we've ever welcomed the actual maestro mezcalero to a Drammers event, so this is a very special opportunity to talk to the person making mezcal at the highest levels. We've been fortunate to host mezcal brand owners, brand ambassadors and all around experts, but never a mezcalero in person. And while Maestro Eleazar Brena doesn't make all of Noble Coyote's mezcal, he makes most of it, and we've had the great luck to get to know him the last couple years on our annual trip to Oaxaca. As for what we're drinking, we'll be drinking no less than 13 expressions on Tuesday, so maybe skip that warm-up beer before coming over, ha. In addition to trying all 5 expressions in their core range, they've made some special distillations just for us that nobody has tried before to make Tuesday extra-special (so, for the first few, I don't have much to say other than we'll be the first to try it, and these are quite rare). Drumroll please...
Tepeztate - I don't have tasting notes for these first few since we'll be the first to taste these rare batches, but generally speaking, Tepeztate (sometimes spelled tepextate) can take as long as 25 years to grow before it's ready to harvest and turned into mezcal.
Coyotito - You don't see this one very often (it is different than coyote)! Eleazar and Bernardo will explain the difference...
Cuishe - This is a wild agave in the Karwinskii family (which includes madre cuishe, barril...) and grows in an oblong cylindrical shape with leaves spreading at the top. Cuishe is (as you would expect) smaller than Madre Cuishe, and can vary slightly depending on the region.
An (ahem) infused mezcal, distilled with oranges. Don't worry, we'll have pizza munchies. Text me if you need me to spell this one out for you, ha!
3x Mezcal Creams (coffee, coconut, Maracuya) - I've never even heard of this, to be honest, this should be very interesting. I'm told that Eleazar is bringing some other special infusions too.
The ones above are not available anywhere. The expressions below are available in limited numbers in the US market, which we'll also be trying...
Noble Coyote - Coyote. Their namesake mezcal, which is related to the agave Madre Cuishe, is from the agave karwinskii latrans plant. Interestingly, the seeds of this agave can produce different varieties of agave, and can also pollinate and be pollinated by other agaves, so that results in a lot of hybrid agave plants (often with Texpextate, Espadin and Tobala). It tends to grow in rocky areas and so the result is a more mineral flavor than some of the others we'll be trying. This is made from a mix of wild and cultivated agaves, aged for 12 years in San Luis Amatlan and bottled at 48% ABV.
Noble Coyote - Tobala. This species of agave (agave potatorum) is different than most tobalas on the market, easily distinguished since this variety can grow up to 5 feet tall as opposed to most tobalas that top out around 2 feet). The plans matured for 12 years in San Luis Amatlan before being harvested, the mezcal is double distilled, a mix of wild and cultivated agaves, alembic still, 48% ABV. Fun tasting note -- bacon fat on the palate!
Noble Coyote - Jabali. Ah my favorite, the jabali, or agave convalis trel. Arguably the hardest type of mezcal to distill, only a small subset of master mezcaleros know how to produce this mezcal in no small part because these plants have much less sugar, so you need twice the volume of plant to produce the same amount of mezcal. Triple distilled, made only from wild agaves, this one is produced by Jose Perez Santiago, bottled at 48% ABV.
Noble Coyote - Capon. We recently did our first Drammers-exclusive batch of mezcal that was a capon, so most of you already know what makes this so special -- these agaves were harvested after they started to grow a stalk, making the sugars rush back down into the agave and resulting in a sweeter, hyper-sugared plant. Our guest speaker maestro Eleazar uses only hte largest , heaviest agaves for his Capon distillate. And whatever he's doing is working -- this one has won numerous awards (including "best mezcal" at the 2018 World Wine & Spirits competition), and is based on the Espadin agave. 48% ABV.
Noble Coyote - Espadin. This is the most common type of mezcal, thanks largely to the fact that it only takes 7 years to mature, and it is also the most efficient (10kg of agave yield 1 liter of mezcal), and while not everyone agrees with this, most thing the major distinguishing factor (espadin mezcal can have a wide range of flavor) comes from the region. So this is a good opportunity to try Espadin made in San Luis Amatlan and see why this region is so famous for its mezcal. Double distilled, all cultivated agaves, 43% ABV. Distilled by our guest speaker Eleazar!
That's our lineup! So excited to celebrate with Bernardo, Eleazar and the team on this side of the border, and very grateful that they're donating all this so that we can invite members to attend for only $10/person to cover pizza!
HOW TO RSVP: You can RSVP through our new website www.drammers.com, and please let me know if you're having any issues with it, so we can work out the kinks. A lot of you have already registered, but if you haven't, you'll need to do that first to get to the members-only section where you can rsvp (there is a free registration option, and a suggested donation $99/year option).
COST: $10/person.
WHERE: Charlie's apartment (250 Mercer Street, Apt C512, between 3rd and 4th streets in the village).
I hope you can join!