Melate Arroqueno 2014-Semei 375ml

Melate Arroqueno 2014-Semei is a single-palenque mezcal distilled by Semei García Ramos in Santa María La Pila, a village in the Miahuatlán district of Oaxaca known for high-altitude agave cultivation and traditional copper-pot production. The agave is Arroqueño, a semi-cultivated varietal that takes twelve to fifteen years to mature and produces broad, fleshy piñas with a mineral-driven sweetness. This batch, labeled SEM-ARR-001 and distilled in 2014, came from just 1,300 liters and was bottled at 47.8% ABV, a strength that preserves both the agave's expression and the palenque's stylistic signatures without the heat that defines many cask-strength mezcals. Semei García Ramos roasts the Arroqueño piñas in an earthen pit oven for five days, then mills them with an electric mill before fermenting the pulp and juice in sabino wood vats for twelve to fifteen days using only wild ambient yeast from the palenque environment. The fermentation water comes from a well on the property, and the liquid is distilled twice in a copper still, a setup that yields a mezcal with clarity and a round, almost waxy mouthfeel. Maguey Melate featured Semei as their Mezcalero of the Month in May 2020, a recognition that underscored his meticulous approach to low-volume, terroir-driven production in a region where many families still distill without certification or commercial distribution. The liquid carries roasted agave, wet clay, and a faint eucalyptus note on the nose, followed by flavors of smoke, green herbs, and a long mineral finish that tastes like the well water and the volcanic soils around Miahuatlán. The 375ml half-bottle format makes this an accessible entry point into single-village, single-varietal mezcal without committing to a full 750ml of a spirit this specific. Pour it neat after a meal of mole negro or grilled lamb, or sip it alongside dark chocolate to let the smoke and agave sweetness play off the cacao. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.