Capón Mezcal

When an agave prepares to flower it pushes a quiote skyward and burns through the sugar stored in its heart. Cutting that stalk — castrating, or capando, the plant — stops the process and leaves the piña to keep ripening in place.

Producers often leave a capón plant standing for another year or more. The extra time deepens the sugars and the resulting mezcal tends to be richer and sweeter, with cooked fruit and honeyed weight behind the smoke.

It also demands patience and land: a capón batch ties up plants for seasons, so these bottlings are usually small releases from producers who farm their own hillsides.