NETA Ensamble Primitivo

Primitivo is the son in law from the tres carnales, home of "the young guns" of Logoche. They are all incredible friendly people and everyone of them makes amazing Mezcales.

Although Primitivo is just about to move out as he is finishing his own Palenque. There will certainly be an interesting change in profile once he produces in a different area with other fermentation vats and other type of water. Maybe this will be one of the last batches with this flair.... Worth of a collection bottle if you ask us!

For his final production of 2021, Primitivo selected a choice mix of mature agave from three different parcels of family land composed of very distinct soil types, with the idea of crafting a particular field blend with a mix of two species, and three different micro- endemic types of agave. These ensambles represent the oldest style of production in Miahautlán, in which different species and/or subspecies of agave are cooked together, macerated together, and co-fermented before distillation, and are not the result of cold-blended liquids from separately distilled batches.

Through past experimentation, Primitivo Vásquez has enjoyed the results of the inclusion of a small amount of the maguey Jabalín (Agave convallis var.), which on its own, is a difficult and finicky maguey to process. The elevated saponin content of these agaves creates an abundance of foam, requiring twice the space to ferment and twice the time to distill as nearly any other maguey. This is easily mitigated by the inclusion of other types of agave, and due to the strong character of the Jabalín, it can be highly perceptible in the aroma and flavor even when relatively few kilos of the agave have been included.

Primitivo calculated the use of 400kg of cultivated Madrecuixe from a red earth parcel, 390kg of wild Bicuixe from a rocky and white earth parcel, and about 280kg of wild Jabalín from a parcel of black earth tierra negra. Composing the double-distilled liquid with a careful mix of heads, hearts, and high proof tails, Primitivo yielded 150L at 48% Alc. by Vol. from his herculean efforts. Most of this lovely batch was scored for our friends from STOKE.

Luckily we have a few bottles available in the webshop WOOP WOOP!!

• Maguey(es): Madrecuixe + Bicuixe + Jabalín

• Provenance of the maguey: homegrown Madrecuixe and wild-harvested

  Bicuixe and Jabalín from family land

• Producer: Primitivo Vásquez Vásquez

• Region: Logoche, Miahuatlán

• Date of production: December 2021

• Soil type: Madrecuixe from red earth tierra colorada, Bicuixe from white

  earth tierra blanca, Jabalín from black earth tierra negra

• Rest time after harvest: Nine days

• Oven: Conical earthen oven; five days with mesquite wood and oak

• Rest time after oven: 14 days

• Maceration: Machete and mechanical shredder

• Fermentation: Native yeasts; two 1200L Montezuma cypress sabino wood vats

• Dry fermentation time: 24 hours

• Wet fermentation time: six days

• Distillation: 2x in copper pot stills

• Final composition: heads, hearts, and a select cut of high proof tails

• Batch size: 150L -ENNPMV2112
  

• ABV: 48%