Cinco Sentidos Espadín Capon, Alberto Martinez

Alberto Martínez López has been making mezcal for over thirty years at Palenque La Escondida in Santa Catarina Albarradas, a windswept village in Oaxaca's Valles Centrales sitting at 7,500 feet above sea level. This bottling is his take on espadín capón, a technique that involves cutting the agave's flowering stalk before harvest. That intervention forces the plant to redirect all its stored energy back into the piña, concentrating sugars and yielding a sweeter, denser agave heart before it goes into the pit. The result is a mezcal with confectionary richness layered over the earthy structure you'd expect from traditional production. Cinco Sentidos, the label founded by Jason Cox at his Oaxaca City restaurant El Destilado, sources from single palenqueros across the state, pays above-market rates, and runs a ten percent profit-share back to the producers. Each bottle names the mezcalero, village, agave, and still type on the label — transparency as a baseline, not a gimmick. Alberto's batches come to proof between 48 and 53 percent depending on the lot, and some bottlings include small additions of Sierra Negra or other agave, technically making them ensambles, though the capón espadín is the anchor. Production follows the old methods. Mature capón piñas are roasted in a conical earthen pit, then hand-milled with wooden mallets, no mechanical tahona. Fermentation happens in open-air vats with wild yeast, and Alberto adds tepehuaje tree bark to the mix, a practice that introduces a savory, almost leathery layer beneath the sweetness. Double distillation in small copper alembic stills, then straight to bottle without aging. The nose offers sweet cream, hard candy, roasted pineapple, and a hint of coffee cake. On the palate, expect rich, almost chewy texture — think milk duds, frosted cake, buttery minerality — cut by herbal bitterness from orange pith and sage, with that tepehuaje woodiness grounding everything. The finish is earthy and lightly smoky, bittersweet herbs and cinnamon trailing out. Sip it neat after dinner alongside dark chocolate or flan, or pair it with roasted pork and mole. Off Premise Chicago keeps Alberto's batches on the shelf in Lincoln Park when they're available.