A CONVERSATION BETWEEN
TWO CLIMATES
Oaxaca and New Mexico are nearly a thousand miles apart, yet they share altitude and a culture shaped by highlands. Our cane grows 1,500–1,800 meters above sea level in the misty Oaxacan cloud forests, where steady warmth and humidity invite spontaneous, wild fermentation driven by native yeast.
In Santa Fe, at 2,100 meters above sea level, the climate shifts. The air is dry, the seasons swing wide, and barrels breathe quickly. The angel’s share rises, but so does concentration. Oaxaca’s humidity rounds; New Mexico’s desert air sharpens and deepens.
Geologically and culturally, the two landscapes share more than elevation. Both are highland cultures rooted in craft, working with soil, fiber, and fire to shape ceramics, textiles, and cuisine from the materials at hand. Each stands at the intersection of Indigenous and colonial histories, where making by hand is both inheritance and necessity.
Major Arcana lives in the exchange between these climates, the lush and the spare, the fermenting and the aging, carrying one landscape into the other before it is finally completed wherever it’s poured and shared.
Low-Intervention
by Design
Major Arcana rum starts with hand-harvested, pesticide-free cane from the highlands of Oaxaca. Growers cut only mature stalks, preserving sugar concentration and protecting the fresh juice that defines the region. The altitude, cool nights, and misted mornings all slow the plant’s metabolism, concentrating flavor long before the cane is cut.
Sugarcane
cane JuicE
Once cut, the cane is milled on mechanical trapiches, traditional three-roller presses that extract clean, mineral-rich juice without the bitterness of high-pressure shredding.
Wild Fermented
The fermentation is shaped entirely by the native yeasts carried on the cane and in the open highland air. Temperature swings, airflow, and elevation influence every ferment. Distillers often add a bundle of juiced cane to encourage yeast and keep the process lively. Some batches incorporate a seasonally refreshed dunder method to deepen microbial complexity. Fermentation runs several days and often weeks, long enough for the environment to imprint itself on the final spirit.
gravity-fed still
After distillation, the spirit rests before blending. Any necessary proofing is gradual, employing a slow proofing method which, allows the spirit to stabilize naturally. We avoid chill or carbon filtration; instead, we use micron-level filtration to remove particulates while preserving the oils and volatiles that carry flavor.
From here, some batches rest in glass to protect brightness. Others age in wood, using barrels sourced from brewers, distillers, and winemakers across New Mexico. At elevation, the desert’s wide daily swings in temperature and pressure push the spirit deeper into the oak. This is aging shaped by climate, fast in some seasons, slow in others, an ongoing exchange between liquid, wood, and place.
Each step, selective harvesting, wild fermentation, landscape-driven distillation, slow proofing, and climate-led aging, keeps the spirit close to its source. It’s a process that relies on terrain, climate, and time to do what they naturally do best.
Distillation happens on gravity-fed stills, designed so that liquid moves through each stage by elevation rather than by pumps. This approach uses the natural contours of the workspace, reducing stress on the liquid, preserving aromas, and keeping the process closer to the way the region has distilled for generations. The stills are heated by hand-feeding bundles of dried spent cane into the fire below.
Before the bottle
How it started
Major Arcana began with three friends from Northern New Mexico, connected by a shared curiosity about where flavor comes from and how place shapes it. Collectively, the three have spent decades working in kitchens, bars, and in creative capacities across the U.S. and Mexico, chasing spirits, knowledge, and ideas that carried a sense of time, place, and craft.
Their path to rum took shape when Max, a founder of NETA Spirits, a world-class agave spirits brand, became more acquainted with another traditional Mexican spirit, aguardiente, rum. While produced through different means around the state, the real and unadulterated good stuff rarely leaves the vicinity of the small, family-run distilleries that grow, ferment, and distill fresh cane in small villages and ranches of the tropical highlands of Oaxaca.
These spirits reflect the care and craftsmanship of their production and are a living testament to the geographic and cultural landscapes that create them.
We started by bringing the rare home. Now, we’re laying the groundwork to make something entirely our own in New Mexico, built from the same care, patience, and belief that every great spirit begins long before the barrel.
Dustin
Dustin FM, born and raised in Santa Fe, NM, has an eclectic background in the hospitality and film industries. In 2014, he was a part of the opening crew of the revered NYC bar Nitecap, working with Natasha David, Alex Day, and David Kaplan. With 15 years of experience in digital video and film, his contributions to food media clinched a James Beard Award in 2018. After returning to Santa Fe in 2022, he hones his craft in CNM's Spirits Tech program.
Emma
Emma Bagley is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Santa Fe, NM. Her paintings have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Portland, OR; Los Angeles; and New Mexico. Using a stimulating palette, she creates dense theatrical compositions containing fluid transfigurations of pattern and figuration, often leading the viewer to delight and hope.
Jack
An acclaimed designer and serial entrepreneur, Jack Burns holds a master's degree in Transdisciplinary Design, specializing in business design, systems architecture, and strategic foresight. His unique blend of creative design and strategic acumen positions him at the forefront of industry innovation. He brings a decade of rich experience in the food and beverage sector, having worked with two James Beard Award-winning establishments.
Max
Born and raised in northern NM, Max Rosenstock has called Oaxaca home since 2012, shortly after co-founding NETA Spirits, a distinguished agave spirits brand that works closely with a multitude of family operated distilleries in the community of Logoche, Miahuatlán. Sold in over 14 countries and 20+ US states, NETA's spirits are featured in Michelin-starred restaurants, Top 50 Bars, and other highly acclaimed venues around the world.