Hafid Rodriguez
Paquera
48%
NAS
Paquera is the latest mezcal brand to splash into the fast-growing "Destilado de Agave" category. These spirits — which are decidedly not mezcal, at least according to regulatory authorities — are free to play with alcohol content, batch size and varietal type all while avoiding the bureaucratic hurdles of certification. Consider it something of an agave Wild West. What we have here is distilled by head mezcalero Hafid Rodriguez in Zimatlán de Alvarez, Oaxaca. The spirit is made from 16-year Agave Cuishe hand mashed with a wooden mallet, which is then roasted in canonical earthen ovens, fermented in pine wood barrels and distilled using clay pots.
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Ash, clay and lactic funk abound. Lemon and tree bark are the biggest aromas that leap out at first, underpinned by a mineral note somewhere between slate and wet cement. Hints of overripe fruit add a darkly sweet angle.
Thick with pineapple, guava and calamansi, all of which feel like they've been left out in the sun for a day or two. It's sweet but not sugary. There's limestone, a slight salty note and plenty of smoke and resin from those pine barrels. All the flavors play off each other excellently.
Sinks in with a savory character only hinted at on the palate. Dare we say umami? The ash is present in full force alongside gentler flavors of papaya and herbs.
Whatever its classification may be, this is excellent stuff. Those overripe tropical fruit notes play gorgeously alongside earthy terroir, almost as if I was plucking produce straight from the ground. I'm quite curious to understand how and why the decision to go uncertified affected the final product. There's reams of information that could be explored about the flavor and production here, and I'm eager to hear all of it.
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