Sin Gusano Lamparillo (Zona Del Silencio) Mezcal

Big notes of spicy green peppers like jalapeño and really vegetal – but in a dusty and sweet and sour way that sets them apart from the vegetal tones you might expect from a Tepextate, for example.

Complex yet balanced flavours follow through on the palate with notes of olive and pepper with a background of leather, all the while extremely restrained on the smoke.

This very special bottling represents a collaboration with friends at a fascinating new project called Ultramundo, as well as another UK first for The Sin Gusano Project.

The Mapimí Silent Zone (‘Zona del Silencio’) is a patch of desert in the north of Durango, close to the border with Coahuila, that overlaps with the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve.Urban legend has it that no radio or other signals can be received here.

The family behind Ultramundo has 24,000 acres of land, covered in wild maguey Lamparillo (A.Asperrima) and Sotol. It’s a fascinating story because this specific region has no history of agave spirits production, meaning these plants – with their specific desert terroir – have never been distilled and tasted before.

With so much land and agave to play with, the Ultramundo project intends to leave a minimum of 20% of its mature agave to go to seed, which should ensure a plentiful supply for making spirits without a negative impact on ecosystem of the region.

The agaves themselves are 100% wild and estimated to take 15-20 years to mature in this arid desert environment. They have a rough sandpaper-like texture and a light greyish-green colour, with faint striping or marbling that you also sometimes see on agave marmorata.

Each mature agave that’s used for mezcal is left capon (flower stalk cut) in the desert for about 10 months before being harvested and carried out of the maze-like desert by donkey.

Release date: Dec 2022
Batch number: D-GRQ-01