Real Minero ‘Joven’ Mezcal

From the Ángeles Carreño family in Santa Catarina Minas comes the brand Real Minero, helmed by sibling fifth-generation mezcal producers Graciela and Edgar Ángeles Carreño. Agave is cooked in conical earthen ovens, fermented in wooden vats, hand-milled with mortar and pestle, and distilled in earthenware pots – a tremendously laborious technique, which yields an impressive, idiosyncratic spirit. It’s fruity with plum and banana notes, smoke, touches of leafy mint, and sweet chocolate.