San Pablo Ameyaltepec
The palenque of Aurelio González Tobón and his family (Gilberto Flores, Jose Gonzalez Mejia, Alfredo Espidio Vidal, Gabriel Tobon Tobon, Gozalo Tobon Borroso, and Jaime Borroso Tobon) is in the village of San Pablo Ameyaltepec in Mixteca Poblana, Puebla, which lies in a tropical valley with a view of the dormant Iztaccihuatl and smoking Popocatepétl volcanoes.
The family make their mezcal with Papalote (Tobalá) and Pizorra (Tepextate) varieties of agave harvested when ten to eighteen years of age. These are roasted in earthen pit ovens, fermented in open topped horns and distilled using a hybrid alembic-column still known as a resaque (reflux) still. The head (cabeza) of this still contains three saucer-shaped plates that allow high alcohols to pass to the condenser but force heavier vapours to fall back into the pot, so acting like a continuous column still. This still allows the mezcal to be distilled to proof with only one distillation.
Production notes
Elevation: 5,216 feet (1,590 meters)
Agave: Papalote (Tobalá) and Pizorra (Tepextate)
Roast: Granite earthen pit horno for 6 to 9 days
Water source: Spring
Fermentation: Natural yeast in 200 litre open-top wooden tinas
Distillation: Double distilled in 80-litre direct-fired copper pot stills with 3 reflux plates
Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal
Status: Bottlers not distillers
Established: 1995
Owner: Del Maguey Ltd
Capacity: Not supplied
Visitor Policy: Not generally accessible
Website: Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal
Address: Macedonio Alcala No. 403 Local 7, Centro Historico, Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca, 68000
Established: 1995
Owner: Del Maguey Ltd
Capacity: Not supplied
Visitor Policy: Not generally accessible
Website: Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal
Address: Macedonio Alcala No. 403 Local 7, Centro Historico, Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca, 68000
