Alipus San Baltazar

A delicate, fruity, and lightly floral Joven Mezcal produced by hand in ridiculously small batches.

The people of Los Danzantes in Oaxaca, Mexico, are real artisans. They collect small-batch agave Spirits from six small-town family producers in the nearby desert mountains. Each is a rare, hand-crafred gem. Since 1999 they’ve produced a variety of fine Alipus branded Mezcal liquors differentiated by and named after the family village that produced each batch.

The village of San Baltazar sits at an elevation of 4100 feet and is located in the highlands forty miles east-southeast of Oaxaca. Alipus San Baltazar Joven Mezcal has long been the most popular of the Alipús line in Mexico. In fact, it was in such demand and supplies were so short that it was withdrawn from export in 2013 and for quite some time after — and it is still darned hard to get. Mezcaleros Don Cosme Hernandez, his wife Cristina, and his son Cirilio collect wild maguey Espadin agave from the nearby mountains and hand-craft each batch using wood roasting, stone-milled pulp, ancient pine fermentation tanks, and a tiny copper still to double-distill the Spirit. Bottled at 48% ABV.

Smartass Corner:
Baltasar (or Baltazar, Balthazar) was one of the legendary three wise men who visited Christ after his birth bearing a gift of myrrh. Although not officially recognized as a saint by the church, he is revered as one in the folklore of several Latin American regions.