The precious ingredients for OAXACA Batch 002 were blended under the luminous red glow of a full moon eclipse in Scorpio on April 5, 2023. Two months later, over the course of a few days, beginning under the Gemini waning crescent moon, a flower day in the Biodynamic calendar, and leading into the fecund, manifest-rich New Moon in Cancer, I filtered and bottled it.

OAXACA was originally inspired by my experiences of the mezcal, people, and culture of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. For three years I worked for an importer of artisanal Oaxacan mezcal and had the joy of traveling there to meet with the mezcaleros (makers of mezcal) and visit their palenques (open-air village distilleries). I worked closely with Asís Cortés, a 5th generation mezcalero of Mezcal Dixeebe and a portion of the proceeds from the sales of OAXACA perfume is donated to his non-profit that supports the people of Oaxaca.

For the second batch of OAXACA, I made an effort to include more ingredients that are native to the Americas. I added an essential oil of palo santo fruit, absolute of tuberose, and pimento berry (allspice) Co2 extract. The palo santo is sustainably wild harvested in Ecuador and supplied by the ever-discerning Aftelier.

In addition to the base of 190 proof organic sugarcane alcohol, this batch is dosed with a small percentage of artisanal mezcal arroqueño. This wild-harvested mezcal is produced in small batches in a very remote mountain village called Lachigui in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. The wild arroqueño agave used to make this mezcal imparts distinct tropical fruity notes and is kissed with subtle smokiness from its subterranean roasting process.

Artisanal mezcal is an intense labor of love. Each step of the process is done almost exclusively by hand and often the only aid comes from donkeys or mules. Mezcal, to the many diverse indigenous people of Oaxaca is used in ceremony and celebration, it is not merely an alcoholic beverage but a lifeblood for these remote, rural villages and their people.

I think of the mezcaleros when I am making OAXACA. I think of their hands, worn by years of hard manual work and how they touch each step of the process. I look at my own hands as they weigh and blend the ingredients, filter and bottle, apply the labels, package, and ship each bottle. I am inspired by the way in which they make their spirits, not efficiently, not quickly, not for maximum profit, but because this is how it has always been done. And because they must.

OAXACA Batch 002 botanical perfume is a rich, narcotic, smoky and edible perfume that is built on a smoky, leathery, coumarin-rich, vanillin base of rectified pine tar (smoke), labdanum (leather notes), tonka bean and tobacco (coumarin and vanilla notes), Peru balsam and benzoin resin (vanilla notes). The heart is dark with bitter cocoa, spicy from allspice, and sticky floral from luxurious beeswax, jasmine grandiflorum, and tuberose absolutes. The top note ingredients that lift this deep rich potion are suedey saffron, rooty/camphorous galangal, dry and woody blood cedarwood, and sacred, resinous palo santo fruit.