Mal Bien Papalote Capón from Don Refugio Calzada Hernandez was produced in the community of Chilapa de Alvarez, Guerrero. Don Cuco, as he’s known to friends, was the president of a local association of mezcaleros and magueyeros (agave farmers) for many years, and has been a leading force behind popular agave and tree reforestation efforts that have helped make agave more plentiful today than in his youth.

Though he works almost exclusively with maguey papalote, Don Cuco’s bodega is home to a diverse collection of joven, capón and glass aged spirits, as well as a few special batches macerated with chumilin (Atizies taxcoensis), a local stink bug considered a seasonal delicacy.

The agaves used in batch 0520RC were capóned in 2018, giving them two years to increase complexity before being harvested for production