El Rey Zapoteco Espadin Mezcal

El Rey Zapoteco Espadin Mezcal

El Rey Zapoteco Mezcal was founded in 1960 by Don Serafin Hernandez Blas, making it one of the oldest mezcal family-operated brands from Oaxaca. Situated in Santiago Matatlan, the operation is led by the second generation of the Hernandez family. They painstakingly grow the agave plants and oversee every step of the process all the way to the bottling. Handcrafted using traditional methods and using pure spring or well water, they craft premium and genuine mezcal. First, the mature agaves are harvested. It can take from 8 to a whopping 30 years for the plant to fully mature, depending on the species. After the heart or "pia" is harvested, it is cut to pieces and cooked underground a process that can take from 4 days to a week. Then the cooked pieces get milled in a horse-pulled stone mill. The ground agaves are then left to ferment with water in wooden vats, with 100% natural yeasts. After fermentation comes the distillation and the "tepache" is 2X distilled in copper stills. Afterwards comes the maturation, where the mezcal is allowed to age in oak barrels. The El Rey Zapoteco Espadin is one of their entry-level expressions and an excellent showcase of the handcrafted and honest spirit they produce. Smoky, sweet, and fruity, it's a pure mezcal that is bottled at 90 proof. Made with espadin agaves, it's crafted the artisanal way from the harvesting with machetes, to conical stone ovens, the Chilean stone tahona mill, natural fermentation, and double distillation in copper stills.