Bicuixe capón | Víctor García García| May 2025 | BXCVGG2505 | 50.8% Alc | 66 Bottles | Mezcal Brothers + Vine Trail
In El Sauz, Miahuatlán, distillation is traditionally carried out with the assistance of a refrescadera, a cooling jacket fitted around the still cap. No plates are involved. Instead, the addition of cool water to the refrescadera promotes efficient condensation of the vapors and allows producers to capture a high-proof spirit from a single distillation of the fermented agave juices and fibers. There is no final composition of separate cuts. Rather, the carefully monitored distillate is collected and consolidated as it moves from approximately 60% to 40% ABV, producing what is known as a cordón cerrado. This closed, honeycomb-like formation of long-lasting bubbles is an important visual indicator of quality among producers.
Single distillation with a refrescadera remained common throughout much of Miahuatlán until the end of the twentieth century, when it was increasingly replaced by double distillation without the cooling jacket. The use of the refrescadera may have been reinforced during periods of strict regulation, when clandestine distillation required producers to work quickly and with inexpensive, easily replaceable equipment. Although this period of heavy regulation ended in 1983, many of the techniques associated with it became established as local tradition and remain in use today. The eldest son of now-retired maestro palenquero Ranulfo García Pacheco, Víctor García García produced this 80 L batch between April and May 2025. He worked with one- and two-year capón Bicuixe harvested from red and white rocky parcels of family land. Víctor kept part of the production for personal consumption and local sale, while the remaining 50 L were bottled for NETA.
Maguey(es): Bicuixe capón (Agave karwinskii var.)
Provenance of the maguey: Wild and semi-cultivated Bicuixe from family land
Producer: Víctor García García
Region: El Sauz, Miahuatlán
Date of production: May 2025
Soil type: Rocky red and white tierra cascajuda
Rest time after harvest: Twelve days
Oven: Conical earthen oven; roasted for six days with mesquite wood
Rest time after roasting: Seven days
Maceration: Ox-drawn stone mill
Fermentation: Native yeasts; one 1,200 L Montezuma cypress (sabino) wood vat
Dry fermentation: 48 hours
Wet fermentation: Eight days
Distillation: Single distillation in a copper pot still fitted with a refrescadera
Final composition: Cordón cerrado
Batch size: 80 L
ABV: 50.8%