El Jolgorio Barril uses the agave Barril, which is a subspecies of the Karwinskii agaves that grows wild or in a semi-cultivated environment. The Barril piña is dense with sugars and very little water, which results in a Mezcal of great complexity. This Mezcal delicately balances sweetness, citrus, and a distinct minerality. It is earthy with hints of light smoke.
El Jolgorio translates to “the revelry”. Jolgorios are small festivals that occur in remote, mountain villages throughout Oaxaca, Mexico. They celebrate births, deaths, weddings and Saint’s days. For centuries, the lifeblood of these celebrations has been traditional mezcal. In 2010, the Cortés family began building a collective of top mezcal distillers from around Oaxaca. As of 2019, El Jolgorio represents sixteen different families, working in ten different regions of Oaxaca, Mexico, each with its own special story. Every bottle is hand-marked with the specific details of each batch, to truly connect the drinker with the family behind the expression.
In 2017, the team behind the brand realized that certain varieties of agave would be extremely limited and they would only be able to make them available once per year (if at all). They began packaging these rare editions in black bottles to set them apart from the other releases.…