Alipus Santa Ana Del Rio Mezcal

Santa Ana del Río is the Alipús that sells out. A Mezcalistas reader who'd worked through the whole line named it their favorite — just the right amount of smoke, espadín, and sweetness — and noted somebody else must agree, because their store's last bottle went with them and never came back. Alipús is the single-village project Los Danzantes launched in 1999 to bottle individual family palenques and put the maker's name on the label; Santa Ana is made by Don Eduardo Hernández in Santa Ana del Río, a remote village in the mountains above the Tlacolula valley. Espadín grown in the high, mineral soil is pit-roasted in a conical earthen horno, crushed by tahona, fermented in wood, and double-distilled in copper, bottled at 47 to 48% ABV per Old Town Tequila; lots vary, so check yours. Where San Andrés is fruit-forward and San Luis is saline, Santa Ana sits in the middle: expect a nose of roasted agave and clean woodsmoke with a floral, honeyed lift, opening into a balanced palate of cooked-agave sweetness, gentle earth, green herb, and pepper, the smoke integrated rather than dominant, finishing long, warm, and smooth. Honest note: single-palenque mezcal varies batch to batch — that's the point — and this one is scarce enough that when you see it, buy it. For a neat copita, an Oaxacan Old Fashioned, or the bottle you hand a friend to explain what mezcal is, it's the balanced Alipús.

Buy Alipus Santa Ana Del Rio Mezcal online with fast shipping right to your door.