Bicuixe capón | June 2021 | Miguel Osorio Gutiérrez | BCXMOG2106 | Fall 2023 release | 48 bottles | Tahona Mercado SF
“El Grillo” is a much loved and respected member of his community. From his mother´s side, Miguel Osorio Gutierrez descends from one of the founding families of Logoche, palenqueros who settled the area for the purpose of clandestine distillation of the different species of wild agave that grow in hills and ravines. Full of jokes and well humored, Miguel is also a gifted artist whose multiple talents beyond the palenque are sought after throughout the region. He is a skilled weaver of the Cucharillo leaves that compose arches and decorative ornaments for weddings, where he is also often invited to deliver the cleverly worded versos sung at said events. When there is a death in the community, it is Miguel who arranges the tapete de arena, a sand-painting left at the altar.
Despite not working out of his own palenque, Miguel grew up in what were at the time shared production spaces, where a multitude of individuals arrived to socialize and process their agave. His years of experience of working with different agaves and multiple generations of skilled producers, Tío Miguel´s knowledge is quite profound. Over the last decade, Miguel has been planting an impressive amount of various species of agave on his lands, but many these magueyes are only now beginning to mature. In the meantime, his productions remain small, crafting three or four batches a year, totaling around 300L annually.
This batch was crafted with two-year capón Bicuixe that were harvested in the wild over the course of five days surrounding the full moon of May 2021. The flavors and aromas robustly reflect the mature quality of the maguey, as well as their origin from a parcel of rocky and red earth tierra colorada of family land. Composed with a mix of heads, hearts, and tales, and adjusted until the appearance of a cordon cerrado, Miguel yielded 160L at 46.3% abv, producing a fantastic expression of a timeless Miahuatlán staple.
§ Maguey(es): 2-year capón Bicuixe (Agave karwinskii var.)
§ Provenance of the maguey: Wild harvested from family land
§ Producer: Miguel Osorio Gutiérrez
§ Region: Logoche, Miahuatlán
§ Soil type: rocky and red tierra colorada
§ Rest time after harvest: ten days
§ Oven: Conical earthen pit; eight days with mesquite
§ Rest time after oven: five days
§ Maceration: Machete and shredder
§ Fermentation: Native yeasts and well water; two 1200L Montezuma cypress sabino wood tanks
§ Dry fermentation time: 24 hours
§ Wet fermentation time: nine days
§ Distillation: 2x in copper pot stills
§ Final composition: Heads, hearts, and tails
§ Batch size: 160L
§ Date of distillation: June 2021
§ ABV: 46.3% ABV