Madrecuixe | April 2020 | Eliazar + Nicolás García Vásquez | MDXEGV2004 | Summer 2021 Release | 48 bottles
Every Spring, Don Tomás and his sons harvest Madrecuixe from lands in a nearby village just outside of Logoche. These rocky and white, potassium and magnesium rich lands are ideal terrain for the Madrecuixe, which can grow anywhere from 20kg to almost 200kg, depending on conditions and care. It is a cultivar and does not exist in the wild, albeit in semi-feral populations. During their harvest in January and February of 2020, the family selected multiple tons of ripe Madrecuixe in both guía and capón states of growth, but brothers Eliazar and Nicolás were left with the last 22 capón magueyes from the oven for this micro lot. Normally, their recipes dictate shorter resting times for cooked agave after it is removed from the oven, but with all eight sabino wood fermentation vats occupied with other material, the brothers nervously waited until they could process their roasted agave. This can be problematic with other types of maguey, but many A. karwinskii varieties benefit from prolonged resting times which permit a better breakdown of cellulose chains that allow for a more efficient conversion and extraction of sugars. This generally translates to a slightly better yield, with more robust aromas and flavors. After waiting 18 days before they could macerate their agave and occupy a fermentation vat, Eliazar and Nico filled a single 1200L tank to around 3⁄4 of its capacity and were pleasantly shocked with the results. Side by side with a batch made with Madrecuixe from the same oven and harvested from the same land, but processed in a shorter time frame, this production was obviously distinct. This small, 70L batch was selected by our friends in North Carolina for an exclusive release of only 48 bottles.
Maguey(es): Madrecuixe (Agave karwinskii var.)
Provenance of the maguey: Neighboring lands
Producers: Eliazar and Nicolás García Vásquez Region: Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
Soil type: White, rocky tierra blanquizca pedregosa
Rest time after harvest: Five days
Oven: Conical earthen pit, Five days with guamuchil wood
Rest time after oven: 18 days
Maceration: Machete and shredder
Fermentation: 1200L Montezuma cypress sabino vat (just over half full)
Dry fermentation time: 24 hours
Wet fermentation time: 13 days
Distillation: 2x in a copper pot still
Final composition: Heads, hearts, and tails
Batch size: 70L
Date of distillation: April 2020
ABV: 46.7%