Marca Negra Mezcal Tepeztate

About Marca Negra Mezcal Tepeztate

Marca Negra was founded in 2010 with the mission of promoting the best authentic mezcal, and sources its spirits from some of Oaxaca’s most talented mezcaleros. In pursuit of its mission, Marca Negra works closely with its producers, who make their mezcals in the traditional way at their family palenques. The brand’s philosophy is to give the distillers freedom to make the spirit the way they want it to be, which results in an incredibly diverse and modern range of authentic mezcals.

Mezcal is a traditional Mexican spirit, made of only agave and water. Most of mezcal is made in the state of Oaxaca. Usually hand-crafted by small-scale producers, who use methods that have been passed down from generation to generation, mezcal is a very diverse spirit, which is traditionally drunk straight, but also does well in a cocktail. Mezcal is produced from more than 30 different types of agave, most commonly from espadin, which is the predominant agave in Oaxaca. Maguey tepeztate, an Agave marmorata, is much more rarely used, primarily because it takes 25–30 years to mature in the wild and produces lower yield than other types of agave. This agave grows throughout many different regions of Oaxaca, and flourishes best in arid environment on rocky hillsides, steep ravines, and cliffs, making it difficult to harvest and transport to palenques. Producing one liter of mezcal from tepeztate requires anywhere from 30 to 90 kg of roasted agave hearts, while distilling one liter of spirit from espadin or some other varietals only takes 6–10 kg of cooked agave.

Marca Negra Mezcal Tepeztate is crafted in small batches by Maestro Mezcalero Jorge Méndez in the village of San Luis del Río, Oaxaca. It is made from wild grown agave tepeztate, which gives this unaged expression a rather savory profile.

Grab your bottle today!