Mezcal Spotlight: Mezcal Hacienda Vergel De Guadalupe

hace 3 horas
3 Min. de lectura

By Jonathan Lockwood

For around a year Mezcal Spotlight has stayed politely close to home — local bars, local restaurants. Fine. But mezcal doesn't start in a bar. It starts in the ground, in fire, in a family argument about whose abuelo did it better. Cecilia and I have known the unbelievably sweet Alejandro and Bethy of Hacienda Vergel de Guadalupe for several years, but only a few weekends ago finally visited them at their hacienda in San Luis de la Paz, about an hour and 15 minutes from San Miguel.

I first met Alejandro in the Summer of 2019 when he was helping out at another mezcal producing hacienda in the area. He was helping me to identify the various local agaves. I’ve never met another in our state who is as talented at differentiating them. He pointed out the size and shape of the pencas (sharp leaves), the colors, the spacing of the espinas, the terminal points of each.

The hacienda itself is big and sprawling, the kind of place that takes a moment to absorb. A massive jacaranda anchors it, and the gardens in front are almost absurdly generous — peaches, pears, figs, plums, oranges, lemons, blackberries. They put on a lovely tasting for us, delicious food and mezcal samples poured — at one point directly into a xoconostle. It was a beautiful, unhurried afternoon, the kind where stories come out naturally. Alejandro González Anaya’s family has made mezcal at this hacienda since 1780. You see, in 1764 in northern Guanajuato, Hacienda Jaral de Berrios became a massive producer of mezcal, but their monster capacity still didn’t meet the demand. That’s when Hacienda Vergel de Guadalupe stepped in.

For much of those 244 years, production was clandestine — mezcal made off-site, under the radar. The colonial government had a reasonable fear: let the haciendas sell enough mezcal, and they'd have enough money to make arms and otherwise fund the insurrection. They weren't wrong. Then in the 1930s during the Cristero War, there came a "moral hygiene" movement that sought to outlaw alcoholic beverages. Moral hygiene? Yeah, it didn’t take. Bethy also comes from a 4 generation mezcal producing family on both sides. They met at Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí where they were students, but when Bethy brought him to meet her parents, her mother was worried. This gives me a chuckle. So many generations of mezcaleros on all sides of both families–even her own! But she did NOT want her girl getting mixed up with a mezcal guy. For his part, Alejandro says, "I went to school in San Luis Potosí, and came back with Bethy."

He learned from his abuelo how to make mezcal. The fábrica is fairly modest, but Alejandro and Bethy’s talent for making delicious distillations has brought great demand in recent years. They make mezcal primarily from the agave Salmiana. While they distill most to a 43% ABV, their 50% is positively breathtaking! I bought one from him during our visit, and the bottle was marked as #2 of only 5 bottles made. Almost felt like I was buying a secret. They also produce tasty expressions from the local agave Cenizo, and only tiny productions of the super rare Parryi.

I got a 250 ml bottle of this some years ago. Very uncommon and special. Seek it out if you can.

I find their Mapisaga mezcales especially delicious and with a delightful sweetness that makes them stand out among Guanajuato mezcales. And if you’d like to try tequila the way it used to be made–artesanally–you’ve got to try their Tequilana!

After 244 years — some of them legal, many of them not — Alejandro and Bethy are building a new horno and filling bottles numbered 2 of 5. That's not a small operation pretending to be artesanal. That's the real thing, still figuring out how big it wants to be. I’m calling it worth the drive.

Alejandro and Bethy welcomevisitors to the Hacienda — a walk amongst the agaves, a tour of the fábrica, and a tasting. Reach them at agroproductoselvergel@hotmail.com or Instagram at @mezcal.hacienda_vergel_de_gpe to arrange a visit. Don’t overlook the maridaje (pairing) experience