Maguey arroqueño (Agave americana var. oaxacensis) is a massive wild Maguey that can take upwards of 20 years to mature. It is the genetic mother of Maguey espadin, which is the most commonly used Maguey in Mezcal. Many in the Mezcal industry are concerned that this wild Maguey will become more and more rare as Mezcal’s popularity rises, because of the extensive time required for these Magueyes to grow. A few Mezcal producers are also doing sustainability projects to plant new arroqueno in the Oaxacan hills to replace those harvested each year.

Cuentacuentos curates small-batch traditional mezcals and destilados de agave from producers across the state of Oaxaca. Cuentacuentos released its first 6 mezcal expressions in 2018; future releases from the brand will change over time and include non-certified mezcals. The logo and bottle artwork (by artist Cesar Ruiz Conseco) features an opossum or tlacuache in Spanish. The tlacuache on the logo is El Viejito, the little old man opposum who stole mezcal from the demons as a service to humanity. The tlacuache ranks with the jaguar, eagle, and burro in importance in Zapotec, Taina, and Mexican mythologies. Cuentacuentos is bottled under NOM-O20X by Carlos Méndez Blas. The Cuentacuentos motto is Mezcal brings people together, stories make us friends.

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Production Notes

• Maguey: Arroqueno
• State: Oaxaca
• Region: Sola de Vega
• Cooking: Traditional earthen oven pit
• Milling: Canoe and wooden mallet
• Fermented: Natural yeast - 8-9 days
• Still Type: Clay pot
• Classification: Ancestral
• ABV of Mezcal: 46.34%