Off Premise Batch Cinco Sentidos Arroqueno [Was $150]

This batch of Arroqueño from Cinco Sentidos marks the first time Jason Cox's curated label has bottled a spirit made by Andrés "Andresón" Jarquín, the father-in-law of young mezcalero Eduardo "Lalo" Pérez. Distilled in El Nanche, Oaxaca in March 2023, only fifty liters were produced. What makes this batch even rarer is that forty of those liters rested in glass demijohns for over a year before being bottled exclusively for Off Premise in Chicago in May 2025. Arroqueño is a semi-wild agave that takes up to twenty years to mature, and its scarcity makes single-producer batches like this one a rare window into individual palenque style and family tradition. Andrés Jarquín roasted the agave in an underground earthen oven using mesquite and oak as firewood, then crushed the cooked piñas with a wooden mallet rather than a tahona or mechanical mill, a labor-intensive technique that extracts different sugars and fibers than stone or steel. He fermented the crushed agave in cypress sabino tanks with local well water from the village, allowing wild yeasts to drive the process, and double-distilled the fermented mash in a copper alembic still. The spirit was proofed with a blend of heads, hearts, and tails, a traditional Oaxacan technique that preserves the full aromatic range of the distillation run rather than discarding the flavorful edges. The extended rest in glass has softened the spirit without adding oak or oxidative notes, letting the minerality and vegetal depth of the Arroqueño come through clearly. Expect green bell pepper, wet stone, unripe pineapple, and a long, savory finish with hints of sage and cracked black pepper. This is a mezcal for sipping slowly and contemplatively, ideally alongside grilled vegetables, aged sheep's milk cheese, or ceviche with lime and cilantro. Cinco Sentidos prints the producer's name on every label, not the founder's, and shares ten percent of profits back with mezcaleros. The small production run and year-plus rest make this batch a snapshot of a single palenque at a single moment in time.