5 Sentidos Tobala Cultivado

Cultivated Tobala is still a rarity in mezcal, and this batch from Alberto Martinez Lopez represents one of the first ever produced in his village of Santa Catarina Albarradas. In 2017, Alberto took a gamble: he transplanted one-year-old Tobala seedlings onto a single hectare of fertile land and tended them for six years, watching for the moment when the plants would signal readiness by sprouting quiote stalks. When spring 2023 arrived and some began flowering, he castrated the stalks at their base and harvested sixty of them alongside five piñas of Espadin, timing the harvest just before the rainy season. The roast lasted seven days in Alberto's underground stone oven, using encino oak for heat and layering banana and willow leaves over the agave to protect and flavor the cook. He crushed the roasted hearts entirely by hand with a wooden mallet, a painstaking choice that preserves delicate aromatics. Fermentation took place in an underground stone tank for four days, the mash charged with spring water and strips of encino de agua bark, a traditional technique used to enrich the ferment. Alberto and his wife Yolanda then double-distilled the batch, blending heads and hearts to create a balanced distillate that rested in glass demijohns for over two years before bottling in December 2025. This is part of the 5 Sentidos catalog, the Oaxaca-based label founded by Jason Cox that names every mezcalero on the bottle and shares ten percent of profits with producers. Cox pays above market for batches like this, ensuring that experiments like Alberto's cultivated Tobala remain economically viable. The result is a mezcal with the floral brightness and vegetal complexity Tobala is known for, but rounder and more approachable than wild expressions, showing honeyed citrus, wet stone, and soft smoke. Sip it neat to appreciate the patience and precision that went into this batch, or pair it with ceviche, aged manchego, or grilled white fish with herbs. If you're in Lincoln Park looking for mezcal that tells a specific story, this bottle delivers.