Origen Raiz Cenizo is made with maguey Cenizo (Agave durangensis) by mezcalero Ignacio Grijalva Santiago, who is also known as Don Nacho. Though originally from Oaxaca, he moved to Durango with his family to run the palenque at Rancho El Ojo. Cosme Gabriel Simental also helps with the mezcal production. There are also some bottles made by mezcalero Noe Ramirez Varela. All of the bottles and batches we’ve seen have come from Rancho El Ojo, which is full of wild agave, sotol, and nopal plants. The ranch lies just outside the Sierra de Órganos National Park, at an elevation of approximately 6,350 feet. The agave used in this mezcal are smoked in underground ovens, crushed by mule-drawn tahona, fermented in open-air oak tanks, and double distilled in copper stills.
