This year, the stalks didn’t rise.
No flowers, no seeds. And no one knows why.
There was a drought, yes. Freezing nights too. Some blame the eclipse. But neither science nor local memory can explain it. Sergio Garnier asked the elders across the Zone of Silence—none of them had ever seen a year like this. And that, in itself, is extraordinary.
At Rancho Pelayo, where Ultramundo is made, things don’t run on demand. They run on conviction. Sergio doesn’t plant agaves. He doesn’t force, doesn’t farm, doesn’t intervene. He distills only what the land gives, when it’s ready. It’s a way of working that doesn’t answer to market pressure—it answers to nature.
This year, nature pushed back.
The environmental impact was real. No stalks meant no seeds, which threatens the future of wild agave populations. But even in a year like this, mezcal was made from agaves that had already spent twenty years surviving drought, sun, and silence.
Sergio could’ve taken another path. He could’ve planted. He could’ve sped things up. He didn’t. And at PKGD, we never asked him to. Because we don’t see the producer’s decision as a formality, it’s the foundation. And when you work with someone like Sergio, the smartest thing you can do is not get in the way.
We’re now working with him to protect not just the mezcal, but the people behind it. We want the Rancho Pelayo team—the ones who have learned to do this work with patience and respect—to continue doing it, even when the environment makes it harder than ever.
Ultramundo isn’t rare because it’s scarce. It’s rare because it’s different.
It’s not designed for mass production or fast growth. It’s made to honor wild agaves, untouched by shortcuts. It’s made to taste like where it comes from—and to tell the truth of that place.
And that truth is being recognized.
At the 2025 Agavo Awards, Ultramundo was named Best Mezcal Overall and received a Double Gold—awards that speak not to scale, but to substance.
So if you’re looking for something truly distinct, now’s the time to try it.
Because there’s nothing else like it.
This article was structured with the assistance of artificial intelligence (ChatGPT). All content is based on human input and editorial oversight. For more details on how PKGD integrates AI responsibly, please refer to our AI Policy.
