
Ever heard of pechuga, the mezcal from Oaxaca made by suspending a chicken breast (pechuga) from the top of the still?…Ron Cooper, the Venice artist and adventurer who jump-started the whole mezcal craze in this country with Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal almost two decades ago, was showing José André's creative director Ruben García the pechuga process at the village of Santa Catarina Minas…Andres and García asked Cooper to make a mezcal with the ham the same way he makes the one with the chicken breast…The first six cases of Del Maguey Ibérico arrived just in time for the annual Tequila and Mezcal festival Andrés holds every year at his restaurant Oyamel in Washington, D.C., where the new Del Maguey Ibérico got ts first exposure.