La Luna Ancestral Paradas X Patria Limited Edition Mezcal

La Luna Ancestral Paradas X Patria Limited Edition Mezcal 750ml 50.1% ABV


Before anyone savored tequila produced in an steamed powered above ground brick oven or autoclave, they would have experienced a flavor profile more similar to this expression of La Luna Mezcal Tequilana Ancestral. Distilled in clay pot, this ancestral expression of Tequiilana features a lot of the aromas and flavors one would find in their favorite high proof Tequila’s today. One of the notable production and flavor differences would come from the underground roasting done for this expression.

In earth pits, we line the oven with three different types of wood (oak, pine, and avocado tree), light the wood on fire with ‘ocote’ (pine kindle/torch), load volcanic rock and allow volcanic rock to heat up for 12-14 hours. After rock is of desirable heat we load in a protective layer of ‘pencas’ (agave leaf) and then the blue weber (tequilana) agave itself. We seal up with ‘petates’ (dry palm leave hand woven mats) and then dirt. We roast for 5 days and then uncover the roasted agave. We pass them through a wood chipper device the shreds into the size of ‘bagazo’ we need to then move the ‘bagazo’ to two hammock-like juice ‘trapiches’ we built to squeeze some of the juice from the bagazo. We then take the juice and allow it to start fermenting on its own while we place the bagazo in our pine-wood 1000 liter vats. Once the bagazo is in the vats we then add water from our local well and allow for natural fermentation to take place over the course of 10 days. After fermentation is complete we take the ‘tuba muerta’ (dead mash) to distill twice in our clay pot stills. Our second distillation consists of 4 cuts and ultimately our final profile is done by blending the ‘cuerpo’ (body), our ‘puntas’ (heads), and ‘colas dulces’ (sweet tails). This batch was proofed to 50.1% ABV of 100.2 Proof for a very specific reason.

This is our annual Paradas x Patria (Paradas por Patria) that pays homage to September 16th and the Mexican Independence Day. Maquina 501 is a train that has been recognized by songs and ballads due to its influence on the victorious revolution for Mexico. During that era and time trains were the main form of transport for many things including weapons. Maquina 501 is one of the trains that was stolen by Pancho Villa to, amongst other things, transport weapons to his fellow revolutionaries to equip them with the ammo and arms necessary to secure the victory for Mexico. This batch is done with respect and pride for them and for the mentality of doing what is necessary in a moment of calling. Adrian Gallegos, Salvador Chavez’s brother, co-producer and partner for La Luna Mezcal, holds Maquina 501 close to his heart as it influences his overall efforts. He asked to profile this specific batch to 50.1% ABV as a true testament to Mexican history and to the history of mezcal.