Tosba Tepextate Mezcal

Just one of many reasons to support small-scale Mezcal production is the economic boost that recognition of the spirit has brought to rural Mexico. In fact, the two cousins who founded Tosba had themselves left their native Oaxaca in search of a more prosperous life in Silicon Valley. In 1999 they seized on the nascent interest a global market was beginning to take on the spirit and found a way to deliver new wealth to their home state. This Tepextate agave, harvested at 25-year maturity from a rocky hillside amidst coffee, mango, wild fruit trees and sugarcane is one of the most astonishing spirits I've ever tasted. If you can keep your eyes from bursting wide open when this unfurls over your tongue, try to keep them closed. It will evoke a dreamscape of vivid color and humming life.