San Baltazar Chichicapam, Oaxaca
San Baltazar Chichicápam, about an hour from Oaxaca City, is a desert valley shaped by microclimates that create astonishing diversity. In just a few steps, the arid, stony landscape turns into a misty zone beneath ancient sabino trees (Moctezuma cypress), beside a river, the Río de la Amargura. As with the almost unreal nature that surrounds them, the people here have striking character; their customs move between the tangible world of land, agriculture and even rodeo, to the fantastical realm of superstitions and mysticism woven into daily life. At the town’s center lies a stone whirlpool that gathers water from the river, a place of deep meaning and a repository of legends and magic.
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.
The result
The combination of altitude, tradition and traditional methods produces a mezcal that is not a standard profile, but a spirit that reflects its origin - unmistakably of this place, and true to the way it is made.
See ProductsMezcales from San Baltazar Chichicapam
Chichicapa
Price for Standard Shipping. Price may vary per store. Exclude delivery fees.This is the first mezcal that found Ron Cooper, produced with incredible consistency and flavor by Faustino Garcia Vasqu…
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