Agua Magica Capon Espadin Mezcal

Winemakers green harvest to concentrate flavor into fewer, better grapes; Julio Juan does something close to that with agave, cutting the flowering stalk before it opens so the sugar the plant meant to spend on seed stays home in the piña instead. That is the capón method, and Juan, the sixth generation of his family to make mezcal in San Juan del Río, in Oaxaca's Tlacolula Valley, applies it to espadín grown to seven or eight years of age. The piñas are roasted over white oak in an earthen pit, crushed under a 500-kilogram stone tahona, wild-fermented in open pine vats, run twice through copper stills, and proofed to 45 percent with mountain spring water. Fermented pineapple and palo santo lead the nose; the palate turns silky and peppery with white chocolate, lime zest, and cool eucalyptus; grilled poblano and coffee bean carry a long finish. Agua Mágica means magic water, and this is the bottling that earns the name.