Koch El Mezcal
Standard Koch line is copper-pot artesanal. Only 'Koch El Ancestral' — a Sola de Vega clay-pot Espadín by Alberto Vásquez — meets clay-pot criteria. A Koch Ancestral Coyote has been reported by some retailers with contradictory still-type descriptions; we don't list it until verified.
Koch’s standard bottlings (Espadín, Tobalá, Barril) are copper-pot artesanal — the widely-distributed range. Only the El Ancestral Espadín by Alberto Vásquez (Sola de Vega) is clay-pot distilled. Per Mezcalistas listing: “Olla de Barro / Clay pot still, double distilled. Hand mashed with wooden mallets.”
Note: A Koch Ancestral Coyote (94 proof) appears in some retailer catalogs, but BottleBuzz describes it as copper — a contradiction with the “Ancestral” designation. Because we could not find a reliable second source confirming clay-pot status for the Coyote, it is not listed. Direct producer or importer confirmation would settle this.
Koch’s own producer sites (kochmezcal.com and koch.com.mx) were unreachable during this verification pass — content above is drawn from retailer descriptions and Mezcalistas.
Sources
Catalog
4 SKUs — 1 ancestral ★Bottles from this producer we've verified in US distribution — each row cites a source. ★ marks true ancestral: the cited source must explicitly state both clay-pot distillation AND wooden-mallet or tahona milling for this specific bottle. Producer-line statements ("our whole line uses X") do not qualify — verification must be per-bottle. Copper-distilled, shredder-milled, or citation-gap bottles are listed but not starred.
| Bottle | Maestro | Agave | Still | Mill | ABV | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koch Espadín (standard) | — | Espadín | Copper | Tahona | 47% | verify → |
| Koch Tobalá | — | Tobalá | Copper | Tahona | 47% | verify → |
| Koch Barril | — | Barril | Copper | Tahona | 47% | verify → |
| ★ Koch El Ancestral Espadín (Sola de Vega) Sola de Vega. Double-distilled clay pot, hand mallet, wild ambient yeast fermentation. | Alberto Vásquez | Espadín | Clay pot | Wooden mallet | 47% | verify → |