Basic Info

High in the rugged Sierra Norte of northern Oaxaca state, near the tiny pueblo of San Cristóbal Lachiroag, brothers Edgar and Elisandro Gonzales, the maestros behind Mezcal Tosba, have created a beautiful rhum agricole from local high-mountain sugar cane, using traditional hand methods developed for mezcal. DAKABEND is a superb and supremely artisanal distilled spirit. DAKABEND is rhum agricole, meaning that it is distilled from fresh cane juice. The sugar cane used in DAKABEND, which has the highly aromatic intensity of flavor typical of plants (like agaves and grapes) grown on mountain slopes, is trimmed and pressed immediately after harvest. The fresh juice (which is delicious) fermented with native wild yeasts, then double distilled in a small potstill. Most rums are made from what’s left over when companies make sugar: molasses, black treacle, etc.; many commoditized rums contain added sugar. DAKABEND is made directly from freshly-cut high-mountain sugar cane. It’s like the difference between freshly squeezed orange juice and the stuff made from concentrate. The juice is highly aromatic and yields rum with deliciously intense yet soft flavors.