Cinco Sentidos Tobala Mezcal

5 Sentidos Tobala is made by Alberto Martinez during “La Canicula,” which is a brief dry period that takes place in the middle of the rainy season each year. The first batch of this was just 112 litres (made in July 2018), which was made with 116 mature maguey Tobala (agave Potatorum) that were wild harvested from 7,500 feet above sea level in the mountains of Santa Catarina Albarradas, Oaxaca. Alberto and his son-in-law Reynaldo cook the Tobala in an underground conical oven with encino oak for six days. They then hand mash the cooked agave with wooden mallets, mix it with spring water and ferment the agave in underground stone tanks with “encino de agua” bark for four days. The resulting “tepache” and mash are then double distilled in small clay pots.