Aguascalientes

A Territory You’ve Never Tasted Before

Chava Peribán here, as per usual, writing this newsletter that is both a challenge and a lot of fun. I thought a lot about this newsletter’s title and decided to claim that no one in the club has ever tried an Aguascalientes agave spirit. I am 90% sure of this statement because, when it was offered to me, I was incredibly surprised/confused, and I know for sure that none of it has ever hit the US. But if you’ve been lucky enough to have sipped some “Hidrcálido” juice, email us with the story and context, and I’ll personally buy you mezcalitos for a whole night if you ever visit Mexico City. That’s a full commitment. Now, to our usual programming.

Aguascalientes gets invited to the mezcal party 

As many of you know, the right to use the word “mezcal” on your bottle’s label is controlled by a Denomination of Origin that took full effect in 1994. Since then, there’ve been a few minor changes to the rules producers must follow to comply with the DO, but nothing too controversial or significant in the big scheme of things. What gets people heated and excited is when new states or cities are given the chance to join the mezcal club. And just in April of 2025, seven municipalities within the state of Aguascalientes were included in this coveted list.

Aguascalientes is tiny; the whole state represents only 0.3% of Mexico’s territory, yet it has always been hyperactive. Situated right in the middle of the country, I like to think of it as our very own Chicago: a capital of trains and logistics. In 1884, the first train station was inaugurated in the middle of its capital city, and by 1990, they had the country’s most important train maintenance workshop in all of Mexico. Just like Chicago (love you, Malört), it would be hard to call Aguascalientes a natural beauty. Still, if you know where and how to look, you’ll find delicious agaves, immense churches, and savory birria, an absolute winning combo.

Here in the Bajío, just like in San Luis Potosí or Guanajuato, the production of agave spirits (and pulque!) was done at a large scale. Unlike Oaxaca, famous for its household palenques, this area was defined by magnificent haciendas, which employed armies of people through the infamous “tienda de raya” system. To give you an idea of the scale of this production, in an article named “Mercado interno y vinculación con el exterior: el papel de los ferrocarriles en la economía del porfiriato” (Internal market and external links: the influence of trains in the economy during the porfiriato), the author claims that in 1909, 16% of Mexico’s train cargo was pulque, while stone intended for construction purposes only accounted for 8.3%.  Yes, we Mexicans have always had our priorities in the right place.

After the Mexican Revolution concluded and Porfirio Díaz was kicked out of office, land was slowly restored to small farmers, following Zapata’s mantra: “La tierra es de quienes la trabajan” (The land is for those who work it). Unfortunately, these new small owners never had enough muscle to keep those large operations going. And as a result, in just a few years, Mexico had lost a significant part of its booze industry (a true tragedy).  Here is a direct quote from the anthropologist Arturo Warman, which I think gives a precise description of this reform:

Mexico’s land reform began with a large-scale people’s revolution and took shape during the civil war. Over an extensive period, Mexico’s peasant farmers received more than 100 million hectares of land, – equivalent to half the national territory and some two-thirds of the country’s total rural property – on which they established some 30 000 ejidos (village communal holdings) and communities comprising more than 3 million heads of household. However, the reform failed to translate into well-being and the targeted peasant farmers now live in extreme poverty. 

In the same way you don’t drink beer at the same pace and frequency as scotch, people had the same relationship with pulque and mezcal. Do you remember Don Alejo claiming that his 95-year-old cousin never drank water but lived exclusively out of pulque? We are sure he is no exception, given that a common saying in Mexico reads: “Al pulque solo le falta un grado para ser carne” (Pulque only needs one more percentage to become meat). On the other hand, mezcal has always been more expensive, a luxury reserved for very special moments in life, such as weddings, baptisms, or saint-parties.

Recently, we learned that, just as with old-school mezcal ensambles, pulque is made from many different agave species and varietals. Each one contributing to the final result in a different way; some are more sugary, others have stronger flavors, and a few are considered fillers, almost like white space. It is clear to us that the same level of complexity found in a mezcal ensamble is also present in even the most humble pulque glass.

As we mentioned in the previous newsletter, Mapisaga is known to be a “pulque” agave and is very rarely used to make mezcal. So rare, that in the vast multi-verse of Mezcal Reviews, it only features two hits: this very expression, and one crafted by our beloved Nazario (mezcalero of April 2024). The only other piece of information we found regarding Mapisaga came while going through our new favorite book (Long Live Pulque!). Here is the direct quote of Juan Escalona talking about this mythical agave:

I have no favorites; I love all magueyes and drink pulque from all of them. But I must acknowledge that the carricillo (Agave mapisaga) always captivates me. It is unlike the others. Its pencas form a dense narrow palisade. The longest ones bend and curl like ribbons. Its mechichihuales are small, and its spines point upward.

Finding Cesar Mateo

The first time I tried Cesar’s full lineup I immediatly knew he was a special producer. All his expressions had a common hand that spoke louder than the agave species or varietal. The Salmiana at 36 ABV was perfect for silly cocktails; the Tequilana prompted me to get some loud, quick shots; and the Mapisaga just left me in full awe.

Fast forward to a few months ago, after we had committed to buy a Mapisaga batch, I was eager to spend time at Cesar’s estanco (this is how they call the palenques in Aguascalientes), sampling spirits, taking pics, and asking long questions.

When I got there, Cesar was hosting an electronic music night, trying to bring the new generation closer to mezcal. He told me that most of his loyal customers are old “rancheros” and he worries that his craft will fade away once they are gone. So that very first night, I just got to sit down, chill, crush some beers, and sip on mezcalitos while listening to loud techno—one of the weirdest but most enjoyable afternoons I’ve ever spent at a distillery.

Next morning, when we finally got to sit down and share breakfast, Cesar looked me in the eye and immediately told me: “I hope that you make the most of that Mapisaga batch, because I don’t plan to work with that maguey ever again. It is a pain!”

He described horrible foaming during fermentation (just like the cheeky Jabalí), low yields (up to 40 kgs of maguey per liter of mezcal), and bewildered customers (the flavor profile is, well, complex). All of this just made me feel like the luckiest human on earth, not only was Maguey Melate able to score a Mapisaga batch, but it came at a super generous 53.4% ABV. We definitely pray to the right saints.

We hope that this mezcalito will provide enough motivation to start 2026 with hope and ambition, and we’ll be sure to explore the many nuances of both Cesar Mateo and Aguascalientes during this month’s social media posts. So don’t forget to check our Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube every once in a while.

Saludcita and happy new year!

Follow along throughout the month on facebook or instagram to get all the videos, fun facts, and conversations about this month’s feature. Some topics to look forward to include:

• More on the Aguascalientes terroir and history. We are trying to get the original documents that were submitted to get the DO.
• Cesar’s philosophy on making mezcal. Unlike other producers we’ve met, he has a love for imperfections that translate in memorable spirits.
•  We’ll also explain the Pox bonus bottle. A completely different approach to spirits coming from Chiapas.