Penca Larga | May 2021 | Primitivo Vásquez Vásquez | PLGPMV2105 | Summer 2022 Release | Bearcat + Val's exclusive | 126 Bottles

Penca Larga simply means “long leaf,” and is an extremely common name applied to different plants in different regions that reflect a shared morphological trait- long leaves. The very particular Penca Larga used in this batch is not to be confused with other maguey that carries the same name.

Initially a bit of a mystery, folks in Logoche first started to work with these Penca Larga plants in 2019. The piñas were brought down from the community of Santa Lucia, further to the south and at a higher elevation in the mountains of the Sierra Madre del Sur, by the same magueyeros that have long sold Tobalá to the palenqueros of Logoche. The flavors of the cooked piña and the distilled spirit are extremely unique- with strong notes of wood, wet earth, and a medicinal like herbaceous-ness. The fermentation and distillation is similar to that of Jabalín and requires identical treatment if processed on its own. Vats and even the boiler pots can only be filled half way, in a maneuver to control the bubbly and foamy nature of the saponin-rich maguey. Yields are nominal, so these efforts in curious experimentation require much love and dedication to the craft.

As plants were brought down and grown out in Logoche, it became evident that the Penca Larga was in fact not an Agave, but rather a type of Furcraea, a distinct genus within the Asparagaceae family. The plants are monocarpic, like their Agave cousins, but produce a very different type of branching and flowering structure from their quiote upon maturation. In other parts of the world, Furcraea species have long been used for fiber production and as a food source, just as Agave and Dasyilirion plants have historically been utilized in Mexico. While it is incorrect to refer to the Furcraea or the Penca Larga as “agave,” they most certainly are “maguey” in every classical colloquial sense.

Primitivo worked this 100L batch with great care in May 2021, creating something extraordinarily unique. This bottling is the first NETA release of a 100% Furcraea spirit.

 

§  Maguey(es): Penca Larga (Furcraea guerrerensis)

§  Provenance of the maguey: Magueyeros from the Sierra of Miahuatlán

§  Producer: Primitivo Vásquez Vásquez

§  Region: Logoche, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca

§  Soil type: Red earth tierra colorada

§  Rest time after harvest: 10

§  Oven: Conical earthen pit; six days with mesquite wood

§  Rest time after oven: five days

§  Maceration: Machete and shredder

§  Fermentation: Native yeasts, three 1200L capacity Montezuma cypress sabino wood tank

§  Dry fermentation time: 48 hours

§  Wet fermentation time: 6-7 days

§  Distillation: 2x in copper pot stills

§  Final composition: Heads, hearts, and tails

§  Batch size: 100

§  Date of distillation: May 2021

§  ABV: 46.4%

MARIE NAKAZAWA