Mezcal Vago Elote Aquilino Garcia (700ml / 49.9%)

Vago Elote from Aquilino Garcia Lopez has a nose full of smoky toasted corn and dry river stones. The body is sweet with wood tones and layers of honeycomb, green tropical fruit, and smoke. It has a prolonged finish loaded with mint and papaya. This is a triple distilled Mezcal. Between the second and third distillations, Aquilino Garcia Lopez adds roasted corn from his farm. The roasted corn taste shines through to the finish. This Mezcal still has hints of the Vago Espadin’s tough exterior, but its revealing with a softer aftertaste that rounds the edges off the Espadin.

Vago Mezcal

Mezcal Vago began when co-founder Judah Kuper visited a hospital in Oaxaca, Mexico. He fell in love with the nurse who treated him. Her father, Aquilino Garcia, was a sustenance farmer who also produced mezcal. Judah and Aquilino, along with Judah’s longtime friend Dylan Sloan, launched Mezcal Vago. In 2013, their first exported bottles arrived in Texas. Each of their mezcals is produced naturally in a traditional palenque with no additives. The brand aims to empower both the master craftsmen with a celebration of his art. Also the consumer by giving them the knowledge they need to find a great mezcal. The brand plants 3 agaves for each single agave they harvest. Their goal is to end the use wild agave by 2025 for most of their releases.

In 2017, Mezcal Vago began using different colour labels for their different mezcaleros. Emigdio Jarquin (blue label) distills in copper with refrescador. Aquilino and Joel Barriga (tan and gold labels respectively) distil in copper. Tio Rey (red label) distils in clay pots. All their mezcaleros use different water sources and make different distillation cuts. In 2018, Mezcal Vago established an investment partnership with Samson and Surrey. With the new partnership, each Mezcal Vago mezcalero has a stake in Samson and Surrey.

AROMA: Notes of sweet corn, caramel and hints of cream and smoke on the finish.
TASTE:  This is an agave bomb. It has a soft sweetness. Grilled corn, hold the butter. Vanilla. Corn tortilla starch. It’s got a nice, spicy bite to it too. Mineral and bitter feel near the end. Corn-nut salt aftertaste.
ENJOY: Benefits from opening up in the glass. Sipping mezcal is enjoyed slowly and with friends.