Maleza Cacahuate Peanut Liqueur

The Maleza Cacahuate is made from twelve ingredients which Isunza and Lopez chose to express the smoked and spicy aromas of roasted botanicals. In addition to peanuts, they add roasted yellow tortillas, cinnamon, orange peel, toasted sesame seeds, toasted cacao, and additional spices. One of the most particular ingredients is pinole, a mixture of toasted corn, toasted cocoa, cinnamon, and sugar that is used to prepare atole, a traditional Mexican drink served warm on many a street corner. Like all of the Maleza liquors, the base spirit is alcohol distilled from corn in Rubio Isunza’s native state of Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico. Chiapas’ native spirit is pox (pronounced posh) which is distilled from a mixture of corn, wheat, and sugarcane. Isunza worked with a traditional pox distiller in San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, to produce a base spirit purely from malted corn because it has such a distinctive flavor.