Oaxaca, Mexico is nothing short of a cultural reservoir with a distinct spirit that manifests itself through the region's food, architecture, festivities, and of course their ancestral drinks - yep, we're talking Mezcal! Yet Carlos Moreno, an architect in his mid-30's, had always found it rather dystopian that many of his peers would often feel the pressure to bash through the innumerable hoops needed for them to get across to the US in search of a better life. “They think they’ll go, make some quick cash and come back, [yet] they feel hunted” says Moreno.

Koch Is More Than Mezcal, It's A Way To Give Back

And so with just $200 of savings, Moreno had sought to find a way to create something that could channel Oaxaca's cultural capital in a way that would be financially supportive of his peers staying and forging a life in their homeland, whilst also doing work that they could be proud of and helping to build up the communities of their own. This was the start of Koch Mezcal. 

Carlos Moreno who founded Koch Mezcal.

Koch Mezcal was founded in 2008 by Moreno and a friend of his, with the desire to help their community. And thus the name was drawn from the ancestral pulque agave, whose scientific name is Ferox Koch. It was after all the sacred drink of the Aztec people, and Moreno had thus envisaged it to be the collective face of the community. For Moreno, this would have almost seemed intuitive - his own great grandparents had once operated a small mezcaleria near a train station which offered travellers a taste of these agave spirits served alongside local cuisine.

Working with seasoned mezcalero Pedro Hernandez, Moreno would first work to produce his own Mezcal. Together they would emphasise the ancestral methods of roasting their agaves in earthen pits, crushing the roasted agave hearts with a horse driven tahona (a stone mill), and then fermenting them with indigenous yeasts in juniper wooden tanks, before finally distilling them in clay pots and copper stills. Moreno wants us to taste the soil, the water, the fermentation and the yeast - he wants to capture the terroir in a bottle.

The traditional use of animals to help ground cooked agaves with a tahona stone mill.

The Koch Family Name Bound By Cultural Pride

And yet over a decade on, Mezcal fans would note that Koch today represents an array of mezcaleros from across Oaxaca, each bringing to the Koch label their often handed down family recipes. Moreno had found that many mezcaleros had found it daunting to work the full process from agave to distillation and then distributing and marketing their Mezcal; they'd have to don the role of jimador, mezcalero, salesman and distributor. This made it impossible for those with little resources - and this is where Koch comes in to represent them. “We make them feel comfortable because we are involved with them in the production of agave, in the production of Mezcal. How can you make a maestro in Oaxaca feel happy? Work with them. As in any business in the world, they want to be connected with you.” says Moreno.

Today Koch represents over 50 mezcaleros across 18 communities, who produce out of one of Koch's 14 palenques (or distilleries), having built up a fanbase for its Mezcal in more than 15 countries. After more than a decade of work, there is even a waiting list of locals who are looking to join Koch, and Moreno has even noted that the past several years have seen a reversal of attitudes, with more locals looking to come back to Oaxaca from the US, seeing their hometown as being a more attractive place today.

“Koch is like our last name and then each bottle, each community, each family, they have their own history.”

With Koch, each mezcalero has the freedom to produce their Mezcal according to their own stylistic interpretations and traditions. “Each region in Oaxaca has a different way to produce. Some of these people love to do it by hand, they are smashing the agave by hand, and other people use a horse. Every choice has an impact on the final product... If you have animals closer, it will be richer.” says Moreno.

Having established Koch with the intent of giving back to the community, Moreno continues to find ways to do so be it through helping to promote sustainable farming of agaves with the replanting of agaves from seeds, a process that will take anywhere up to 15 to 20 years, to sponsoring schools where children not only learn Spanish, but are also taught their ancestral Zapotec language, and lunch is even provided! Through its work Koch also provides jobs for hundreds of folks who are involved in the Mezcal making process. Ultimately Moreno hopes to to give back to his community the Mexican dream.

And so today we're going to try Koch's Coyote Mezcal!

At the one and only Cat Bite Club, a haven for agave spirit lovers.

This was part of a Agave 101 tasting that was put together by Singapore's Cat Bite Club (which is inarguably the best place to try a wide selection of quality agave spirits), and was organised by the bar's manager Erika, and supported by La Maison du Whisky who serves as the distributor for Koch Mezcal. Conducting the session was Beatriz Maida from Bar Pajaro.

Let's go!

Mezcal Review: Koch El Mezcal Ancestral Maguey Coyote Joven

This expression is made with wild maguey (or agave) that's about 12 years old from the Coyote region, and is made at Koch's San Baltazar Guelavila palenque. The maguey here is cooked in a traditional oven and extracted using a tahona, followed by being fermented naturally with indigenous yeasts in cypress vats, and then finally distilled twice in a clay pot still.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Clear

Aroma: It opens with a gentle mustiness of wooden attics, which gives way to these soft fields of violet flowers. It's bubbled up by a plume of supple ashiness - almost a floral ash even. More on lavender fields; incredibly floral and aromatic as it builds. It's as if flowers were growing off a bed of volcanic ash, and yet cusps the quality of fresh bed linens.

Taste: Great richness here, it's deep yet maintains a clean and elegant sweetness. It's earthy yet brings about a depth of gentle sweetness, more florals and ash. It's incredibly supple and almost feels like an endless falling ever deeper into this pillowy core of concentrated vanilla sweetness.

Finish: It maintains that cleanness around its outline, yet at the same time remains lifted, supple and soft in its richness. It's really focused on that creamy vanilla sweetness that's painted by sweet BBQ. Subtle and soft notes of sweet ash stays on the finish before giving way to more floral notes of lavender and fresh bed linens.

My Thoughts

This was absolutely fascinating, delivering this incredibly unique floral ashiness that was elegant and lifted. From there, it does not stop throwing out surprises. The palate brings about this incredible depth, drawing you into what feels like an infinite free fall towards a core of supple, rich and delicate vanillic sweetness. It's at once concentrated yet incredibly plush. It's a texture and depth that I've not quite encountered before with Mezcal. The finish is perhaps the most familiar with a sense of sweet BBQ that would be familiar to those who are fans of Islay Scotch whisky - well understood yet nevertheless superbly tasty. If you ever curious to find out how mindblowing and complex a Mezcal can be - this will open your mind's door and change your brain chemistry.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot