{"product_id":"mal-bien-ninos-viejos-madrecuishe-mezcal-750ml","title":"Mal Bien Niños Viejos Madrecuishe Mezcal","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMal Bien Niños Viejos Madrecuishe Mezcal (750mL)\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 401-bottle single-batch release built around an accident: a field of madrecuixe agave that Victor Ramos planted in 1993, then abandoned to weeds for three decades. Anyone who already drinks Miahuatlán karwinskii will want this one for the agave alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProcess \u0026amp; Profile\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVictor and his son Emanuel Ramos are the third and fourth generations of their family to distill in Mengolí de Morelos, a village of under 200 people in the Miahuatlán district of Oaxaca — the heartland for \u003cem\u003eAgave karwinskii\u003c\/em\u003e subspecies. Victor planted the madrecuixe in this batch just after Emanuel was born, then let farming and family crowd it out. Madrecuixe in Mengolí normally matures in 9–11 years and grows to roughly two meters; starved and overgrown, these plants took thirty and topped out near one meter. Victor harvested them in the fall of 2023, the year Emanuel turned 30, and named them \u003cem\u003eniños viejos\u003c\/em\u003e — old boys. Batch 1023VFR, bottled at 50.5% ABV (101 proof). The agave was roasted six days in a 15-ton pit oven over encino, guamuche and mesquite, crushed by ox-drawn tahona, fermented in sabino and oak tinas on well water, and twice distilled in a pair of 275-liter copper alambiques with refrescadera. Adjusted to proof with puntas y colas — no water.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the nose, wet river stone, green pepper skin, roasted agave fiber, cucumber rind, white pepper and a faint band of woodsmoke that never dominates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the palate, brine and lime pith arrive first, then celery leaf, unripe mango, a chalky mineral core, and a bright piñata-candy sweetness that keeps the 101 proof from reading hot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe finish is long and dry, tightening into salinity and green herb with a warm mesquite ember underneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNearly three years of rest in glass separates this from a standard Ramos madrecuixe. The batch was distilled in October 2023 and not bottled until August 2026, and that time in garrafón is what rounds the sharp mineral edges of undernourished karwinskii into something composed. Batch codes ending VFR mark Victor's cuts; ER marks Emanuel's. This one is Victor's, and it is one of a handful he made before stepping back from full-time work in the palenque.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServe neat at room temperature in a copita or veladora — no ice, no chilling, which would flatten the mineral register. If you want food alongside, salted fresh cheese and citrus does more for it than anything cooked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrequently Asked Questions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat is this mezcal?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA single-batch artisanal mezcal from Victor Ramos in Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, made entirely from madrecuixe agave that grew for roughly 30 years in a neglected field.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat are the specs?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBatch 1023VFR, 50.5% ABV \/ 101 proof, 401 bottles, 750mL. Distilled October 2023, rested in glass, bottled August 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat does it taste like?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMineral and saline up front — river stone, green pepper, cucumber rind — moving into lime pith, celery leaf and unripe mango, with a long dry herbal finish and only a whisper of smoke.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow should you enjoy it?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeat, room temperature, in a copita or veladora.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy is this release notable?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e401 bottles from a single field of thirty-year-old, half-size madrecuixe — a batch that only exists because the plants were forgotten.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Mal Bien","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50442848043256,"sku":"19295","price":124.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0352\/3140\/0072\/files\/mal-bien-ninos-viejos-madrecuishe-mezcal-750ml-keg-n-bottle-1593366.png?v=1788556406","url":"https:\/\/thebourboncentral.com\/products\/mal-bien-ninos-viejos-madrecuishe-mezcal-750ml","provider":"Bourbon Central","version":"1.0","type":"link"}