Espina Negra Mezcal

Espina Mezcal - Espina Negra is made with agave Espadin in Santa Ana del Rio, Oaxaca, a community located 80 km from Oaxaca City. There are only about 500 small town inhabitants, and most are involved in the production of agave and mezcal. The agaves used in this mezcal are traditionally cooked in a pit oven, milled by tahona, and double distilled in a copper still.

Espina Negra celebrates the mezcal of the Cruz Molina family, who have worked the fields of Santa Ana del Rio, Oaxaca, for more than four generations. During his childhood, mezcalero Roque Cruz Molina went out in the fields but forgot to wear his sandals. While out in the fields, he suddenly felt a thunderous electric shock through his body as he stepped on a thorn of an agave plant. The thorn stuck through his foot's big toe, and his brothers, Celestino and Honorato, ran for their father. The father came and removed the thorn but warned the boy to be careful as the agave thorn was sharp but was also a source of income for the family. 

This experience caused Roque to call his brand “Espina Negra” or Black Thorn. 

"We coined the name “Espina Negra” after all the blackthorns that have bitten our hands, feet, and body while we work; the intense pain is a reminder of the high respect for maguey and mezcal, beyond alcohol, as our ancestors have taught us. Our name means sacrifice, but the satisfaction of making a good mezcal."

Source - Mezcal Reviews