Reviews / Vinatero Ji'Ja Mai
Review ·
Vinatero Ji'Ja Mai
Tepehuano wild agave from El Mezquital – rarely this honest
Score: 4.5/5 agaves
- Producer: Vinatero de Corazón
- Maestro: Aurelio Garcia
- Region: El Mezquital, Durango
- Agave: Ji'Ja Mai
- ABV: 46.1%
- Price: $40–90 ($$)
Verdict
Aurelio Garcia's work at El Mezquital, the Tepehuano highlands of Durango – is the kind of single-maestro bottling that justifies the format entirely. The Ji'Ja Mai is a wild agave whose tepehuano name tells you this bottle exists outside the Oaxaca-centric frame most mezcal drinkers use. At 46.1% it's proofed to let the plant sing.
Ji'Ja Mai is Durango agave in its own language
Tasting notes
Nose: Dry herbs, wildflower, warm stone, a pine undertone
Palate: Lean and mineral at 46.1%, with the Ji'Ja Mai, a tepehuano name for a Durango wild agave – carrying a distinct high-desert fingerprint Oaxaca can't approximate
Finish: Drying, stone, very long
The bottom line
One to search for. Tepehuano-named wild agave at reference proof