La Venenosa Costa Raicilla

An intriguing combination of gravel, rubber and old wood smoke. It’s very savoury, with no sweetness to start, but as it develops with hints of fruit and sweet spice emerge, along with farmyard notes, herbs and green leaf bitterness. Sweeter and softer than the bouquet, with a building background of white pepper spice. Arrayed on top of that is orchard fruit, cooling menthol and mint, stony minerality and aniseed ball spice. It’s complex, bouncing around between fruit, spice and herbs, eventually settling on sweet spice. The finish has green leaves, smoke and lingering notes of lemon and menthol.

Produced for over 500 years in the Mexican state of Jalisco, Raicilla is a Mezcal that adopted a new name in the 1780’s to avoid a tax levied by the Spanish Crown. Jalisco offers a plethora of agave species, second only to Oaxaca. These, along with great diversity in terroir, equipment and techniques, give Raicilla an amazing spectrum of flavour and history. This Raicilla is produced by Maestro Tabernero Don Alberto Hernández in the village of Llano Grande of the coastal region Cabo Corrientes, 700 metres above sea level. Don Alberto cultivates a mix of agaves: Rhodecantha and Angustifolia. Rhodecantha matures after 12 years and Angustifolia after eight. The agave is roasted in a wood fired adobe oven. It is distilled two times in a Philippino still made out of copper and a hollowed out tree trunk. La Venenosa Raicilla range was created by Chef Esteban Morales to bring these hidden jewels to the global market. Esteban traversed the state in search of the best producers in each region. Every one of these Raicilla expressions is unique; created by different Maestro Taberneros in distinct regions, from different species of agave using diverse techniques, the individual results are astounding.