Agave Mixtape VOL. 10|8256234684649
VOLUME 10 - Now Shipping
Puntas Sierra Negra - Victor Ramos
Puntas Ensamble Madurado en Vidrio - Ageo Cortes
Super Special Grab Bag Puntas - Lalo Ángeles or Javier Barranca*
*We had some great batches to choose from when putting together this special puntas edition of Mixtape. Unfortunately, some of our favorites were also some of the smallest.
All of the Vol. 10 boxes will include a bottle of Victor’s Puntas de Sierra Negra, and Ageo’s Puntas de 4 Magueyes. The third bottle in each box will be either Javier’s Puntas de 6 Magueyes or Lalo’s Puntas de Espadín. Both are excellent. So excellent we couldn’t choose one over the other. And now, just like us, you also won’t be able to choose.
There are an equal number of boxes containing Javier’s and Lalo’s batches, and we won’t accept requests for one or the other. You just get what you get, and we promise you won’t be upset.
If you, really, truly must have all of the bottles, you can order two boxes at the same time, in which case we’ll make sure you receive one box that includes Javier’s batch and one box that includes Lalo’s. To make sure you get both, there must be two boxes on the same order/receipt.
All the details over on AgaveMixtape.com
Puntas Sierra Negra
Victor Ramos
60.20% August, 2023
Mengoli de Morelos, Miahuatlán, Oax.
After taking some time away from the Palenque to focus on his health, Don Victor is back doing what he does best – firing his stills hot and fast, and turning out batches of truly excellent mezcal. While a bunch of these will make their wat to the USA via Mal Bien next year, we thought it would be good to celebrate the return of our guy Victor F’n Ramos with a fresh batch of puntas from one of his favorite varietals.
Puntas: Madrecuixe, Bicuixe, Tepextate, Coyote
Ageo Cortes
56.5% April, 2018
Mengoli de Morelos, Miahuatlán, Oax.
Originally 50 liters when we purchased it back in 2018, Ageo held this batch of puntas for us in the Cortes bodega, letting them mellow in the family’s vintage glass damajuanas as an experiment. Thirsty and impatient, we spent the next five years taking little nips and personal samples, and by the time we were ready to bottle it this fall, there were only 40 liters left.
Tracking the evolution of this batch over the years, the most notable difference is the drop in ABV. The batch was around 62% ABV when it was fresh (VS 56.5% at the time of bottling). In theory, the ABV would stay the same in a perfectly sealed container. In practice, the mouth on the old glass demijohns doesn’t make a perfect seal with the corn cob being used to plug it, and alcohol escapes while humidity in the air sneaks in. As for the flavors, it seems the opposite was true. Going from memory, flavors in 2018 weren’t nearly as potent. Strong, yes, but not nearly so well defined as what we have today.
Puntas: Papalote, Zacatoro, Espadín, 3 Desconocidos
Javier Barranca
75.1% June, 2023
Ahuacuotzintla, Chilapa de Álvarez, GRO.
At 75.1% ABV, it’s the mezcal equivalent of the Maxell Tape ad with the dude getting his hair blown back from a high fidelity recording of Flight of The Valkyries.
The maguey used to make this batch are notable for a couple of reasons. First, the use of magueyes desconocidos - plants that are rare enough in the region that mezcaleros haven’t bothered to give them names. Our best guess is that these are all different varietals of A. americana and A. rhodacantha, but we’re not botanists. Second, while the agaves were all roasted, mashed, fermented and distilled together, they were harvested from a few different places:
Papalote – La Mohonera, Santa Catarina
Zacatoro - Zompazolco
Espadín – La Mohonera
Desconocidos – Santa Cruz, Nejapa
La Mohonera, Santa Cruz and Nejapa are all very close to Javier’s fabrica. Santa Catarina and Zompazolco are a few hours to the north on some rough dirt roads.
Puntas Espadín
Lalo Ángeles
69% April, 2022
Santa Catarina Minas, Oax.
If there’s anything “bad” we can say about Lalo, it’s that his batches rarely have the element of surprise. We hear “puntas de espadín,” imagine their platonic ideal, open the bottle and yup, there it is. Then again, that’s kind of the point. His aim isn’t to be a modernist creator, pushing the limits of what’s possible with fermentation and distillation, it’s to be a faithful documentarian of each plant’s finest qualities. Searching for an analogy, there are less parallels between Lalo’s work and any artistic movement, than there are with the fractal geometry of nature whose vast complexity and total predictability exist as one.
This batch was distilled from espadín grown on Lalo’s field’s in Minas in October of 2022. After composing the final mezcal (balancing the corazones with puntas y colas), there were 200 liters of mezcal espadín at around 49% ABV, and 24 liters of 69% puntas, which were rested in glass galones for about a year before being bottled for Mixtape.