Mal Bien Green Tape Victor + Emmanuel Ramos "Ninos Viejos" (A. Karwinskii) Batch 1023VFR Uncertified Miahuatlan Mezcal (750ml)

This is one of the most extraordinary agave stories we've encountered in years. In 1993, shortly after the birth of his son Emanuel, mezcalero Victor Ramos planted a field of Madrecuixe in Mengolí de Morelos, Miahuatlán. Farming, distilling and raising a family eventually took priority, and the field was effectively abandoned, left to compete with grasses and wild plants for decades. Madrecuixe in Mengolí normally matures in roughly 9 to 11 years and can reach two meters in height, but these neglected plants grew extraordinarily slowly and remained only about half that size even at maturity. In the fall of 2023, after Emanuel had celebrated his 30th birthday, Victor finally harvested the first of those agaves, affectionately calling them "Niños Viejos," or "old boys," for their remarkable age and stunted appearance. The agaves were cooked for six days in a 15-ton pit with encino, guamuche and mesquite, milled by tahona, fermented for 3 to 8 days in sabino and oak vats using well water, then twice distilled in two 275-liter copper alambiques equipped with refrescaderas. Bottled in October 2023 at 50.5% ABV, the entire batch yielded just 401 bottles. This is precisely the sort of tiny, deeply personal production that makes traditional mezcal so compelling, a spirit literally three decades in the making.