El Buho Espadin Mezcal 750ml

El Buho Mezcal was founded in 2010 by Brooklyn-based chef TJ Steele in partnership with José Isaac "Pepe" Jiménez Méndez, whose family has produced mezcal in Santiago Matatlán since 1880. The brand is now made by fifth-generation mezcalero Octavio Jiménez Monterroza, carrying forward recipes and techniques passed down from his father, Don Isaac, whose name still appears on the label. What began with just three copper stills in the family home has grown into four dedicated palenques, though the founders have kept the original recipes and attention to detail unchanged.

This flagship expression is made entirely from Espadín agave grown at roughly 5,000 feet in the central valleys of Oaxaca, harvested only once the plant sends up its flowering quiote, a signal of peak sugar content. The piñas are roasted for about seven days in an underground stone oven, crushed with a horse-drawn tahona, and fermented for ten days in pine vats using wild airborne yeast. The mosto is then double distilled in copper pot stills and bottled unaged, with each batch limited to around 5,000 liters.

The nose offers fresh pineapple and green grassy notes with a light touch of smoke. On the palate, tropical fruit flavors give way to peppery spice and a rounding hint of smoke that keeps the agave character front and center, closing on a smooth, well-balanced finish.