Product of: Mexico

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Xiaman is an artisan mezcal made with a 50:50 blend of wild Tepextate "Marmorata" agave (which take 25 years to reach maturity) and cultivated Espadín "Angustifolia" agave.

Both varieties of agave are cooked together in a traditional pit oven and the roast piña milled using a traditional Tahona stone mill. The agave juice and fibre are then fermented in open-top fermenters only using wild airborne yeasts. The mosto is double-distilled in small copper stills.

The very distinctive hand-painted and hand-etched decanter-like bottle was designed by artist Maurilio Rentería. Striking, each bottle is sealed with a chaquira bead covered stopper in the shape of a jaguar head. This is made by a group of Wixárica artisans and each bottle take more than 13 hours of highly skilled labour to produce.

The bottles are produced in batches of just 500 bottles, each individually numbered on the leather neck collar.

Review and Tasting

Sampled on 13/03/2020

Appearance:

(bottle 010/500. 2019) Crystal clear.

Aroma:

Soot and smouldering embers rather than smoky with white pepper and crushed mint leaves.

Taste:

Cracked black pepper spice, barbeque charcoal/coal dust and delicately smoke. Faint ripe pear-like sweetness.

Aftertaste:

Very long. Smoky charcoal with faint ripe pear.

Overall:

Xiaman's very striking and attractive bottle contains an equally distinctive mezcal with notes of coal dust, charcoal and peppery spice mellowed by very subtle ripe pear. Xiaman has wisps of smoke rather than being smoky.