Palenqueros – Alberto Ortiz – Tobala – Batch No. AO-TO01

First launched in 2019, the PALENQUEROS range makes a long-awaited return to the US Market. Five years after the inaugural release, this second range illustrates that while many things can change – the availability of certain agaves, trends in the market, shipping costs – the quality spirit of a maestro palenquero is timeless.

When curating this collection of destilado de agave, the focus goes beyond the villages or agave varieties — this range honors the master distillers themselves: the palenqueros. Their names are proudly displayed on the labels, with their portraits featured on each bottle to highlight their craftsmanship. PALENQUEROS is a collaborative project celebrating the expertise of six artisanal producers from various villages in the state of Oaxaca with project coordinator Hector Vazquez.

Each bottling is made by producers who use only organically harvested (no pesticides) agaves, cooked and fermented spontaneously with the natural ambient yeast unique to each distillery. Distilled on small pot stills and bottled at full proof to preserve the authenticity of their historical flavors. PALENQUEROS seeks to draw a detailed map of the rich history of Oaxaca’s terroir, the diversity of agave species and the natural conditions that give the agave a deep formation during its long growing process.

Created by fouth generation master palenquero Alberto Ortiz in the village of Bramaderos, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca sitting at 1656 meters above sea level. The wild harvested Tobala was cooked in an 11-ton oven pit before it was crushed by hand using a mesquite mallet in a stone canoe. A 5 day fermentation was carried out in pine wood vats using only the ambient yeast of the distillery. Distilled on a 350 liter copper pot still, this release was bottled at still strength of 50.1% abv with no additives.

PRODUCTION

Producer: Alberto Ortiz
Location: Bramaderos, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca
Maguey: Tobala Silvestre – Agave potatorum
Cooking system: Conical cone earthen oven pit
Grinding system: Crushed by hand with wooden mallet
Fermentation: Five days with ambient yeast in pine vats

Distillation: 350 liter copper pot still

Bottling: Still strength of 50.1% abv. 400 bottles produced.

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Tasting notes: Dulce de leche immediately emerges, followed by fruity notes and then vegetal notes with a pleasant astringent touch. This makes way for caramel sweetness that settles into persistent resinous tones reminiscent of young tree sap and green herbs.