Neta, Mezcal Espadin Capon (Simitrio Aquino Garcia)

Capon is agave delayed gratification: cut the flower stalk before it blooms and the plant, denied its one shot at reproduction, pours all that energy back into the pina instead. Leave it in the ground another year or two and the sugars concentrate into something far deeper than standard espadin. Simitrio Aquino Garcia made this one in Miahuatlan, in the southern hills of Oaxaca, for Neta, a project whose name is Mexican slang for the real deal and which puts the mezcalero's name on the label instead of a marketing one. It is made the long way: pit-roasted over wood and hot rocks, crushed, fermented with ambient yeast, then twice distilled in small stills. Nothing about it is hurried, and nothing about it needs a mixer. Pour it at room temperature in a copita and take your time.