Recalling our super long trip to Sola de Vega two days before, we wanted to get an earlier start on Tuesday, February 14th, 2023. Logoche, in the Miahuatlán Valley, is really only about 30 minutes shorter a trip than SDV, but that 30 minutes was welcome!
This would be my third time there, but the first for everyone else in our group—including my wife Cecilia who’s been hearing of Hermogenes Vásquez García and his family—as well as tasting their mezcales—for many years. So she—as well as all of us really loved this experience. It was no doubt quite a bit of a longer visit than any of our other stops as the company was so enjoyable and the mezcal both abundant and delicious.
Mogen and his wife Paula (who also comes for a long family line of mezcaleros) wasted no time setting up a tasting for us, bringing out a couple of baskets of washed veladoras. Here’s what we tried: Espadín, Madrecuixe, Bicuixe, Tepextate, Tobalá… But then came the ensambles. And what magnificent ensambles they were!
My pick for (perhaps) the best mezcal I acquired on the entire trip was Mogen’s Cucharillo/Cuixe ensamble. It’s surprised a couple of people, because it isn’t necessarily the boldest of mezcales—and I love bold. Cucharillo, as you probably know, is another name for the Desert Spoon, which isn’t even an agave, but a succulent from which Sotol is made, usually in the north of Mexico.
But this combination features, among other characteristics, a little flavor note that reminds me greatly of a certain ensamble Mogen made many years ago out of a hodgepodge of perhaps a dozen varieties of agave. For fellow Michiganders, it’s almost like Faygo Redpop, which is a strawberry soda from our parts. No, it doesn’t actually taste like soda! There’s just a tiny, little sparkle that grabs me that way. There’s plenty more to this one, and I just think it’s beautiful.
Mogen and Paula also had a Jabalí/Madrecuixe ensamble that could be the second best thing I acquired for the whole trip. I bought this same combo from them a few years ago, and while I enjoyed that one—this one is clearly much better! I also grabbed some of Mogen’s Espadín/Arroqueño ensamble, which I think is solid and could well be popular among some of my friends who prefer a slightly calmer spirit. I passed on their Pulquero/Espadín ensamble, which Mezcal Maniac Fred Collins is really getting into right now. Not sure what happened to me, but maybe I was so caught up in the Cucharillo that I just couldn’t focus on much else!
For as long as I’ve been drinking Mogen’s mezcal, I’ve always loved his Espadín. To me it tastes just as beautiful and earthy as his Madrecuixe, but when featuring his distillations, it seems most get so understandably captivated by his more exotic offerings that they haven’t come to appreciate it like me. Until now. After picking up some of that Espadín, my friend Fred’s eyes have been opened, and he acquired another 20 liters of it to enjoy throughout the year.
I guess Jorge must have only been about 12 when I first visited, but Cecilia and I were both impressed by him. Last year he’d won a Best in Show award at the Maestros del Mezcal national event for his Barril/Mexicanito/Jabalí ensamble. Certainly friendly, and also quite talkative, he seemed pleased explaining many things to us about mezcal’s history and present. One of those things surprised me. Sometimes what one hears at one palenque is not necessarily accepted universally, but it appears that the Bicuixe agave and the Cuixe are one and the same, and I’m finding other sources saying the same. It took all these years for someone to finally tell me that!
When we arrived home and I realized the Cucharillo/Cuixe ensamble was as good as I thought, Cecilia called Jorge asking if we could get some more. His reply in español…
“I am sorry, but that ensamble is now…only a memory…” 😆 Thoughtful young man!
It was just as lovely a palenque visit as I can imagine. I sure hope Mogen, Paula and Jorge know how very much we respect and appreciate them and their work. It seems like they do, as there was a festive, smiling spirit throughout the visit. It’s true I’d have liked to hit more palenques in this storied mezcal region, but the time slipped away from us, and we could only slot in one more. Of course we knew which one that would have to be, and I’ll get that article out next.
Enjoying these write-ups? If so, plan a visit to Oaxaca yourself to explore the palenques. And if you’re coming through San Miguel de Allende, contact me. We’ll pull out some of Mogen and Paula’s stuff and enjoy it together!
He truly is a maestro. On our visit in September, my favorite takeaways were a penca larga , a jablai/madrecuiche ensamble, and a cuiche/espadin/madrecuiche...but it was like picking a favorite child..all of their stuff is so good.
(We started at palenque Los Tres Carnales with the Vasquez family and Hugo Garcia, then went across the road to visit Celso Garcia Cruz, then finished with Hermogenes. After we'd been tasting with him for a bit, the door burst open and the entire crews from the prior two stops poured in...and we suddenly had 20 people and more than 20 varietals being poured....and the rest is a happy but hazy memory.
So, I'm going to guess your next stop was...Celso!?