Puntiagudo Rolando Angeles Barril Chino Ancestral Mezcal
Puntiagudo Rolando Angeles Barril Chino Ancestral Mezcal (batch RA-BAC-01) is a single-batch ancestral mezcal from Maestro Rolando Angeles of Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca — made from tall, tree-like Barril Chino (Agave karwinskii) grown for over twelve years, double-distilled in a 100-liter clay pot still, and bottled at 49.1% ABV in a 750mL bottle. Find more rare Karwinskii bottlings in our mezcal collection.
- Style: Mezcal Ancestral, Barril Chino (Agave karwinskii)
- ABV: 49.1% (98.2 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Producer: Rolando Angeles for Puntiagudo
- Region: Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca, Mexico (agave from San Agustín Amatengo)
A Batch Shaped by an Accident
The story of RA-BAC-01 begins in San Agustín Amatengo, where Don Sixto and his sons harvested 955 kilograms of Barril Chino in April 2021. Barril Chino grows tall and almost tree-like, thriving semi-wild among native flora rather than in cultivated rows, and spends over twelve years stretching skyward before it is ready. The hearts traveled an hour to Santa Catarina Minas, where Rolando Angeles — continuing the tradition of his father, Marcos Angeles — roasted them for five days in a conical earthen oven fueled with guamuchil and copal, crushed them by hand with machete and wooden mallets weighing over 50 pounds, fermented them naturally for six days in 1,000-liter oak vats with well water and wild yeasts, and double-distilled the batch in a 100-liter clay pot still in mid-May 2021.
The still yielded around 88 liters, set to rest in glass garrafones. During warehouse organizing in 2025, one garrafón was accidentally broken and part of the batch was lost — just 67 liters remained to be bottled on June 22, 2026. What survived is, as Puntiagudo puts it, what was left standing after the unpredictability of artisanal production had its say. It sits alongside the producer's other single-maestro bottlings, like the Puntiagudo Nazario Salas Pulquero Mapisaga Mezcal, in our mezcal tequila department.
Tasting Notes
Karwinskii structure with the clay pot's signature minerality: savory and herbal up front, cooked-agave sweetness through the middle, and the rounded, silky weight that years of glass rest give a Minas ancestral mezcal, finishing long and earthy at full strength.
How to Enjoy
Sip neat, a small pour at a time — this is a contemplative bottle, and a natural centerpiece gift for a serious agave collector; see our Holiday Gift Guide for more rare-bottle ideas, and compare it with the village style of the Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal Minero.
FAQ
What is Barril Chino? A local form of Agave karwinskii that grows unusually tall and tree-like; "chino" refers to its curled, unruly leaves.
Why is the batch so small? The clay-pot distillation yielded about 88 liters, and part of the resting spirit was lost when a glass garrafón broke in 2025 — only 67 liters were bottled.
Who makes it? Maestro Rolando Angeles of Santa Catarina Minas, Oaxaca, bottled by Puntiagudo and imported by PM Spirits.
This bottle is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, with nationwide shipping where legal.