Location: Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca
Temo and Mateo García are sixth-generation mezcaleros living in the village of Candelaria Yegolé, nestled in the river canyons of the eastern edge of the Sierra Madre del Sur. Taking over the family ranch and palenque in 2020, the brothers carry on the legacy of their father Aquilino García Lopez, who was a fifth-generation mezcalero and Co-founder of Mezcal Vago. He was also the father-in-law of Mezcal Vago’s other Co-founder, Judah Kuper. This family connection and Aquilino’s exquisite mezcal were the inspiration to form Mezcal Vago. The family had never produced commercially before working with Vago and they still work exclusively with the brand.
The family grows maguey Espadín, and maguey Mexicano, as well as harvesting wild maguey Cuixe (Tobasiche), Tepeztate and Tobalá. Their father Aquilino undertook projects to cultivate these wild varieties and the sons now continue that work. The family palenque is in Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca (16°29'41.36"N, 96°18'38.69"W), a river town in a hot and dry climate at an elevation of around 1100 meters. Two rivers converge in a narrow Valley and it is mountainous on all sides. It is a rugged three-hour drive from Oaxaca city.
The palenque is on the family ranch where the brothers live full time. Their father and grandfather moved it to its current location 20 years ago, having moved around from nearby locations over the years. They believe the family has been making mezcal for at least six generations.
Candelaria Yegolé
The palenque is on the family ranch where the brothers live full time. Their father and grandfather moved it to its current location 15 years ago. It has moved around from nearby locations over the years. They believe the family has been making mezcal for at least six generations.
The Agave Espadín and Agave Mexicano both take 7 to 9 years to mature and Aquilino is very careful about only using ripe agave. It takes 1000 kilos to yield around 100 liters of mezcal. So every 10 kilos will yield a liter. The Espadín we cut ranges from 5 to 100 kilos per agave with an average of around 50 kilos for a well-grown ripe piña (agave heart). Therefore, one ripe Agave Espadín yields around seven 750ml bottles of Mezcal. A bit less but similar for Coyote, Arroqueño and Mexicano. Agave Tobalá and Cuixe yield even less.
The Mexicano and the Cuixe are smaller batches due to the availability of the agave. A batch of Mexicano is between 200 and 900 hundred Liters. The Cuixe is between 100 and 300 Liters (he only does around 2 a year.) The Cuixe is very laborious to make. Locating ripe agave growing wild and spread out over a large region surrounding the village takes lots of time and patience. Many of the agave are far from the road and need to be brought down the mountain by burro. The Cuixe is also laborious to clean and prepare and is tough to grind. It is roasted at least a full day longer than Espadín to fully extract the sugars.
Temo and Mateo use a traditional stone tahona to grind the cooked agave. All of the mashed agave and its juices are scooped together into the fermentation vats. A full oven of agave will take a couple of weeks to grind. This helps space out the fermentation process so not everything finishes at the same time.
Aquilino's Tahona
The fermentation vats are made of pine and hold up to 1000 liters. The cooked agave and water ferment from the natural airborne yeasts in the air. No additional ingredients are used to make the mezcal other than agave and water.
Fermenting Begaso
Each batch ferments for around a week. This varies depending on the ambient temperature at the time of fermentation. The brothers distill the fermented mash (tepache) before all of the sugar has fermented. This is sooner than many other mescaleros distill. He uses six fermentation vats.
The brothers use 250-liter handmade copper pot stills. They make all the separations (cuts) by smell and taste. The heads are between 70% and 30% AVB and his tails are between 30% and 15% AVB. Everything else is either discarded or redistilled with the next batch.
Aquilino's Stills
The García family mezcal has a definite style, which is heavily influenced by their father, Aquilino. Bright, clean and bold without too much smoke. They have less bottom end (tails) than other mezcal lines, due in part to thier “narrow” cuts on the still.
All of their mezcal goes through a simple triple sediment filtration through tubular cellulose filters. The bottling is done by hand is in Oaxaca City. The light filtration is the only way the Mezcal is affected between when it was made on the palenque and how it ends up in the bottle.
Colas - The last portion of the distillate, or tails. This contains your lower alcohols and heavier compounds, such as acetic acid and ethylactate. (Cedeño Cruz & Alvarez-Jacobs)
Ensamble- A blend of different agaves that are pit-roasted, crushed, fermented and distilled together as one single batch.
Mosto - A fermented blend of agave fiber, juice, and water.
Ordinario - First run distillate.
Palenque - A small production facility where mezcal is produced. Also referred to as a vinata or taverna in other parts of Mexico.
Tahona - A large stone wheel that weighs several tons used to crush agave in order to release the juice. Traditionally pulled by a mule, horse, or some other beast of burden, more modern techniques use a tractor or mechanized motor.
Tepache - Often used to refer to a fermented pineapple beverage, it is also used to refer to the mixture or agave and water that is fermenting in the palenque.
Cedeno Cruz & Alvarez-Jacobs. Production of Tequila From Agave: Historical Influences and Historical Processes. The Alcohol Textbook: A Reference for the Beverage, Fuel, and Industrial Alcohol Industries. Jacques, Lyons, and Kelsall. Nottingham University Press. 1995.
Temo García
Mateo García
