Banhez Pechuga (“breast”) is comprised of 100% espadín mezcal redistilled with indigenous seasonal fruits and raw turkey breast hung over a copper still, imparting deliciously balanced flavors and complexity in the alcohol’s vapors before condensation takes place. Pechuga has been consumed across Oaxaca on special occasions for centuries. Banhez Pechuga is best enjoyed neat or over ice.
In the tiny village of San Miguel Ejutla in the central valley of Oaxaca, a co-operative comprised of 36+ families (Integradora Comercial de Ejutla) is committed to sustainable, fair trade mezcal production the same way it’s been done by their ancestors for nearly two centuries. Underground wood-fired pits, donkey-pulled tahonas (stone-wheel mills), fermentation in wooden tanks and small-batch distillation in copper alembics punctuate a process that has been and remains the life’s work of these mezcaleros, with the same care and attention to detail reflected in each and every bottle.