Don Lorenzo Mezcal Tepeztate
Don Lorenzo Mezcal Tepeztate is a 750mL mezcal artesanal bottled at 45% ABV (90 proof), made from wild Tepeztate — Agave marmorata, an agave that can grow for a quarter-century on Oaxacan cliffsides before harvest. Pit-roasted, tahona-crushed and copper-distilled at still strength in Santiago Matatlán, it is the slowest-grown pour in the range. Order it online at Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.
- ABV: 45% (90 proof) — brand production sheet
- Size: 750mL
- Agave: Tepeztate — Agave marmorata, wild, cliff-growing
- Origin: Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico
- Production (brand sheet): Stone-lined pit roast over red oak; cantera tahona; natural spring water; terroir-influenced natural fermentation; double distillation in copper alembic; bottled at still strength
- Maestros (brand sheet): Albaro Hernandez and Armando Hernandez
- Importer: RILO Import & Export Inc.
Twenty-Five Years on a Cliffside
Tepeztate is mezcal's marathon agave: Agave marmorata grows wild on rocky cliffs and can take decades to mature — the brand's published lot sheet for this expression (a 750mL lot from 2016) describes wild Tepeztate aged 25 years, sourced from Santa Maria Zoquitlan, in a run of 1,280 bottles. Don Lorenzo produces in Santiago Matatlán, at the Mal de Amor and Dos Zapotecas palenques, and its method is the traditional sequence documented on the production sheet: stone-lined pit roasting over red oak, a hand-chiselled cantera tahona, terroir-influenced natural fermentation, and double distillation in small copper alembics — bottled at still strength, no water added, so a plant that waited decades arrives undiluted. Browse the range on the Don Lorenzo vendor page.
Tasting Notes
No brand tasting note is published for this expression. Tepeztate as a variety is known for an unusually layered profile — citrus and herbs over woody, earthy depth, nothing like the sweetness of cultivated espadin — and retailer descriptions of this bottling follow that citrus-herbal-woody family. At still strength it is intense and slow to unfold.
How to Enjoy
This is the range's contemplative pour: neat, in a copita, in small sips with time between them. Pair the experience with its sibling Don Lorenzo Mezcal Sierra Negra for two very different wild agaves, and explore more in our tequila and mezcal collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Tepeztate take so long to make?
Agave marmorata grows wild, often on cliffsides, and matures far more slowly than cultivated agave — the brand's published lot sheet for this expression describes plants aged 25 years before harvest. That timescale is why wild Tepeztate mezcal is scarce.
Where is Don Lorenzo mezcal made?
In Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca, at the Mal de Amor and Dos Zapotecas palenques, by a family the brand describes as three generations into the craft.
How strong is Don Lorenzo Tepeztate?
The production sheet records 45% ABV (90 proof), bottled at still strength — no water is added after distillation.
A quarter-century in the growing, minutes in the glass — order Don Lorenzo Mezcal Tepeztate online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.