MezcalSantiago Matatlán, Oaxaca
Kuzca
Palenque Casa Montaño
Three agaves from one palenque, cooked in an earth pit, crushed by a stone wheel: mezcal as it has been made for generations.
Santiago Matatlán calls itself the world capital of mezcal. Here, at 1,740 metres, Maestro Mezcalero Macario works at the Casa Montaño palenque. Three agaves, one distiller, every batch its own.
The story
Santiago Matatlán lies in the district of Tlacolula in Oaxaca and calls itself the world capital of mezcal. At the Casa Montaño palenque, Maestro Mezcalero Macario works with three agaves: cultivated Espadín, wild Cuishe and wild Tobalá.
The brand speaks of seven generations of knowledge, passed down in Zapotec, in Nahuatl and in silence. Its emblem is a winged heart: the wings carry the light of the sun and the shadow of the bat, and the heart stands for the opposites from which mezcal is born. Light and night, maestro and wild agave, the red earth of Tlacolula and the sky of the Sierra Sur.
Kuzca is a young brand that deliberately grows slowly: small batches, selected partners. Made for long conversations, not for a quick sip.
“Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también.”Worth knowing
- The tahona is a stone wheel traditionally pulled in a circle by a horse or donkey.
- Three bottles, three agaves, one distiller: tasted side by side, Espadín, Ensamble and Tobalá differ only in the plant.
- The smoke isn't an ingredient, the smoke is the oven.
- Espadín and Ensamble are certified kosher.
The craft
The piñas cook for three to five days in a conical earth pit over oak and volcanic stone. That is where the smoke comes from. A tahona, a stone wheel weighing several tonnes and pulled by a horse, crushes the cooked agave. Fermentation is open with wild yeasts, and distillation takes place in a copper still. Only the heart of the distillate goes into the bottle.
From field to bottle
- OriginSantiago Matatlán in the district of Tlacolula, Oaxaca. Espadín cultivated, Cuishe and Tobalá wild-harvested.
- HarvestBy hand, when the agave is ripe.
- CookingThree to five days in an earth pit over oak and volcanic stone. Hence the smoke.
- MillingOn the tahona, a stone wheel pulled by a horse.
- FermentationOpen, with wild yeasts.
- DistillationIn a copper still, only the heart goes into the bottle.
