Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal
This is the first mezcal that found Ron Cooper, produced with incredible consistency and flavor by Faustino Garcia Vasquez. The town of San Baltazar Chichicápam is an ancient Zapotec settlement in a broad valley with a desert and semi-tropical microclimate. Prior to Ron and Faustino´s serendipitous friendship, mezcal single palenque production in Chichicapa was not viable, and hacienda style owners charged high rents for producers to use their facilities. Faustino, a humble and stoic mezcal legend, broke the mold with Ron and they built the first single family palenque in generations. He began to produce for Del Maguey and the untapped US market, slowly growing a cult following among bartenders and chefs. Today, he continues to produces small batches the same way, and taught son Maximino who taught his son, Max Jr the illustrious family method.
Flavor Profile
Tasting
Sweet earth, roasted agave, chipotle, baking chocolate, mint
Sweet earth and roasted agave with chipotle pepper
Baking chocolate with warming spice and complexity
Long and smooth with fresh mint and mineral finish
Origin
Desert and Semi-Tropical Central Valley
San Baltazar Chichicapam
5600 ft
Sandy Loam Desert Valley
Espadín (Agave angustifolia Haw.)
5 to 7 years
The Process
Faustino García Vásquez family palenque
Hand-cut in San Baltazar Chichicapam after 7 to 9 years
Earthen pits lined with volcanic rock
Molino · horse · wild fermentation
What defines this mezcal
Gravity and Grace
Don Faustino’s mezcal is rich and sinewy, with a bright, minty lift at the finish. It carries the seriousness of its maker: pure, balanced, and quietly refined. Every mezcal is a composition of its territory, and this one reflects a land of shifting microclimates that seem to awaken the senses just when they begin to settle. It mirrors the men who craft it: tall, muscular, precise in their work, with an understated magic in every gesture. A mezcal of gravity and grace.
A Valley of Exposed Roots
San Baltazar Chichicápam is a small Zapotec town in Oaxaca’s Central Valleys, about 5,000 feet above sea level. Fewer than three thousand people live here, sustained by agriculture, cattle and mezcal. The land is dry, its clay-sandy soil used for corn, beans, agave, and grazing animals. It hasn’t rained much in recent years, though the place once had abundant water running through its rivers and gullies. Sacred trees mark the place, ancient ceibas and ahuehuetes said to be over a thousand years old. Along the riverbanks, the ancient trees reveal their sinewy roots, exposed as the water level drops.
An extension of the house
The palenque sits a few meters from the family home. Work and home overlap; they break to eat together and return to keep the fire going.
Awards & recognition
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2026
International Wine & Spirits Competition Silver
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2026
Tequila and Mezcal Masters
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2026
International Spirits Challenge Gold
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