Bixhidu Mezcal Ancestral Agave Tobalá 

Many locals call the mezcal produced by Tobala agave the “King of the Mezcals.” We call this petite, wild and recently domesticated agave La Dama Tobala- Lady Tobala. Locals also jokingly refer to it as “Tumbala”, insinuating that the mezcal from this petite agave might just knock you over. It is one of the most sought-out and respected by mezcal lovers and producers in Oaxaca and is deeply associated with and prized in Sola de Vega where it thrives in the wild. The maguey itself is typically small, generally growing up to 4 feet and weighing anywhere between 5-30kg, depending on numerous environmental and genetic factors. It takes 8 to 15 years to mature and grows up to 2000 meters high among oak and pine forests. The wild species found in Sola de Vega is blue gray with a coral trim and grows naturally in the high-altitude canyons. The agave thrives in zones of difficult access- steep hillsides and cliffs, so harvesting often presents challenges. While Tobalá has commonly been classified as Agave Potatorum or Agave Seemanniana, these plants are more than often hybrids between the two species, resulting in infinite morphological expressions. In other regions of Oaxaca and neighboring Puebla, the species is known as “Papalometl”, the butterfly agave. Tobalá has historically been one of the few magueys that are distilled as a “single varietal” due to strong local beliefs about its various medicinal properties. The maguey has a high sugar content, and mature plants can yield one liter of mezcal for every 8kg of cooked agave. While the yield is similar to that of Espadín, Tobalá are often so small that it may require the collection of hundreds of plants to make a single batch. It takes about eight piñas to equal one Espadín piña. Not long ago, the Tobalá agave experienced a period of serious scarcity. Various factors such as a long growth period and high-demand devastated the population of wild Tobalá plants. Additionally, Tobala cannot reproduce asexually like other agaves. It rarely reproduces through offsets in its rhizome system, but rather exclusively from seed. Thus, in the wild, Tobala depends on hummingbirds, bats and surrounding wildlife to spread its seeds. For domesticated plants, farmers are forced to germinate from seed, prolonging the growth cycle. Thankfully, over the last 20 years, efforts by farmers and conservation advocates have helped to gradually repopulate this revered agave. In our own efforts to sustain this mythical agave, Bixhidú has planted over 50,000 Tobala plants in pine and mineral rich landscapes that emulate the plant’s natural habitat. Bixhidú Tobala Mezcal is one of the most complete and ethereal mezcal experiences.