Barril

Barril ("barrel" in Spanish) is one of the most distinctive named sub-varieties in the Agave karwinskii complex, named for the unmistakable barrel-shape of its mature piña. Where cuixe and madrecuixe have piñas that are roughly cylindrical (long-axis on the trunk), barril's piña is fatter and more rounded, with the trunk-to-piña ratio shifted toward the piña: a shorter visible trunk supporting a much wider, more bulbous heart.

Maturation runs ten to fourteen years, on the shorter end of the karwinskii range. Distillate tendency is the easiest to characterize in the whole complex: more honeyed, slightly sweeter, broader on the palate than cuixe or tobaziche. Of the karwinskii sub-set, barril is the one closest to a fruity mezcal profile, with notes of dried stone fruit, honey, and a rounded mid-palate that sets it apart from the leaner, more mineral cousins in the group.

Producer recognition of barril is broad and consistent. The morphology is distinctive enough that misidentification is rare, which makes barril (along with madrecuixe) one of the strongest cases in the karwinskii complex for the "polymorphic species with real infraspecific structure" reading discussed in the botany chapter's karwinskii section. A regional naming wrinkle: in the Zona Refrescadera, the name san martinero is often used as a synonym for barril, which is the cleanest example of how karwinskii sub-variety naming is geographically reticulated.

Botanical status: A. karwinskii. Confidence: high (the morphology is distinctive; producer attestation is broad).

Reference bottles: El Jolgorio Barril, Mal de Amor Barril, Creador Barril, and Mezcal Vago Barril releases.