Los Vecinos Del Campo is the new mezcal project from Sazerac and Carmen Villareal of Casa San Matias. As with any upstart mezcal brand our first instinct is to tread with caution. There’s alot of opportunity to get things wrong when bringing a new mezcal to market, but we’re extremely happy to note that our friends from New Orleans avoided all of them. Instead, we get an incredible affordable authentic artesenal mezcal from the village of San Miguel Ejutla in Oaxaca’s central valley.

Carmen’s connections to the area go way back and she was able to identify a cooperative of grower distillers in the village who could provide extremely high quality mezcal and very reasonable prices. There is an emphasis on sustainable cultivation and respect toward the land and the incredible people who work so hard to produce this wonderful elixir. The distillery is owned collectively by ten growers who farm individual plots around the village before hand harvesting and traditional underground roasting.

The agave is pressed on the stone “molino” and fermented naturally in wooden vats before double distillation in hand built copper pots. A very well balanced style with plenty of tropical agave fruit to balance out the roastiness. Bold spicy, zippy citrus peel and roasted peppers on the palate moving toward a smoky grassy finish. Bottled at a generous 90 proof. Accolades from critical press include 5 Stars from the illustrious F. Paul Pacult and 94 points from the Ultimate Beverage Challenge.