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Tequila Distillery Visit: Casa Pedro Domecq

In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to Casa Pedro Domecq in the town of Arandas.

(Agave being loaded into ovens. They use the same agave for treatment with rollermill as with tahona.)

This distillery makes Tezon tequila, Olmeca Altos, and a mixto tequila for the Mexican market. I believe Tezon is all tahona tequila. This was distributed by Pernod Ricard in the US, but it appears they've abandoned it and are pursuing sales of Olmeca Altos, which is about half the price, instead. This tequila, also 100% agave, is made by blending agave that has been processed with a roller mill with tahona agave. 

(In the rollermill process, after the agave is baked to break up the complex into simpler, fermentable sugars, the agave is shredded using a rollermill.)

(The tahona method. After baking the agave, the chunks of agave are placed in this pit. The large volcanic stone wheel rotates around in it, crushing the agave to expose the sugars before distillation. In olden times, the tahona would have been pulled by a mule.)

(This is the post-tahona agave. Gross. The fibers actually reabsorb the liquids here. All of it is thrown into the fermentation tanks.)

(Fermenting agave juice.)

(These stills are for the tahona agave- the big opening is so they can put in the fibers.)

(In the warehouse, they cover the lids of some barrels with plastic to reduce evaporation.)

• Agave for Olmeca Altos is 7-8 years old before harvest. 
• They cut out the cogollo (the interior of the plant where it would sprout to reproduce if it could) in the field. 
• They heat the agave in ovens, though they own an autoclave that is sometimes used for the mixto. 
• They use larger pot stills for the mixto. 
• They ferment and distill the tahona agave with the agave fibers, not the rollermill agave.
• The reposado tequila is aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 6-8 months.
• They replace the barrels after 9-10 years. They tried recharring the barrels but didn't like the results.
• The last agave shortage was in 2000 and 2001. Some people predict another shortage in a year or two. 
• Lowland soils are sandier, darker, and more volcanic
• 60-70% of agave for tequila is grown in the highlands

Tequila Production Videos

I went to a bunch of tequila distilleries a couple of weeks ago. Here are some videos of tequila production. 

Harvesting an agave plant at Sauza.

 

Cutting up the agave at the Don Julio distillery to prepare it for baking.

 

At the Olmeca Altos distillery, crushing the baked agave using the stone tahona. 

 

At the Patron distillery, crushing agave in the rollermill, the more modern way to do this. Both Patron and Olmeca Altos use a blend of tahona and rollermill- crushed agave.

 

Then the agave ferments,

 

And is distilled to make tequila. 

The Top Five Misconceptions About Tequila

In November 2010 I visited seven tequila distilleries in Jalisco, Mexico. We were hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS), as well as by the CNIT, the Camara Nacional de la Industria Tequila. Both are industry-sponsored groups with many different brands as members. 

 

Judith Meza, who works for CNIT, outlayed what she thinks are the

Top Five Misconceptions About Tequila

1. Tequila comes from a cactus. Truth: tequila comes from the agave plant, a relative of the lily. 
2. Tequila contains a worm in the bottle. Truth: Tequila never comes with a worm in the bottle. Some mezcals do. 
3. Tequila is highly alcoholic. Truth: tequila is nearly always sold at 40% alcohol in the US, the same as most vodka, whisky, gin, rum, and everything else.  
4. Tequila should be consumed with lime and salt. Truth: Good tequila doesn't need it. 
5. Tequila is served in a shot glass. Truth: While it can be served in a number of vessels, there is a Riedel tequila tasting glass that is especially good for sipping tequila. 

A Green Tea, Apple Juice, and Tequila Cocktail

In my post this week on Fine Cooking's website, I got hold of Daniel Hyatt (from The Alembic)'s recipe for the Dragonwell Punch. 

I tried the drink at a Don Julio tequila event in San Francisco a couple weeks back and flipped for it. It's just light and lovely, and plays well with blanco. The drink is made with green tea and jalapeno-infused apple cider. It's just that plus tequila and a mint leaf garnish, and I could probably drink it all night. 

For the recipe, go to the Fine Cooking website. 

The Tequila-Sherry Connection

Every time I look for sherry I find tequila there too. What is it with the tequila people and the sherry people being the same people?  

Steven Olson aka Wine Geek is both a tequila and mezcal ambassador and also a sherry ambassador. 

Jacques Bezuidenhout, Partida tequila brand ambassador and sometimes sherry ambassador, also created of the La Perla cocktail with both tequila and sherry. 

George Sandeman of the Sandeman sherry and port family is a huge tequila fan. 

On a recent trip to Spain with Steve Olsen were Phil Ward and Katie Stipe of Mayahuel, the tequila-and-mezcal bar in New York. 

Gitane restaurant in San Francisco has a drink with tequila, PX, lime, and ginger beer. 

And just the other day I got a recipe pitch from Espolon tequila with this recipe from H. Ehrmann of Elixir:

Ashes to Ashes

1.5 oz. Espolón Tequila Reposado
.5 oz. Pedro Ximenez Sherry
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Sweetened Cocoa Mix
.25 oz. Agave Nectar
1 pinch Ground Cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a mixing glass, fill with ice, cover and shake well for 10 seconds. Strain up into a cocktail glass. Garnish with cinnamon dust.

I also love both sherry and tequila, but I don't know what they have to do with each other. 

What gives? 

Breaking: Jose Cuervo is a Small Craft Distillery

I don't often pick on bad press releases, but this one made my jaw drop in its chutzpa. Apparently Maestro Dobel tequila is part of the growing trend of small-batch craft distilling.

Never mind that the brand comes from NOM 1122, which is the distillery where they make such other small batch spirits as Jose Cuervo, 1800 Tequila, and Gran Centenario.

Get a load of this press release that just came in (emphasis in bold mine):

Craft spirits remain a tiny niche in the U.S however, consumers are always looking for exclusivity when it comes to liquors.  Craft distillers, small scale operations that are similar to microbreweries, cater to consumers’ appetite for artisan and local markets.  This elite sector in the spirits world is making a come-back as the recession is letting up.

What makes a craft distiller?  These hands-on, hand-crafted operations make spirits in small batches, often producing less in a year than larger distilleries bottle in an hour. Craft distillers provide an opportunity to add uniqueness to the spirits industry, most of the time, in extremely limited quantities (the average craft distiller might produce 6,000 cases a year). Exclusive sprits like Maestro DOBEL tequila that produce only 2,000 exclusive cases per year, are no exception.

As such, Maestro DOBEL, has mastered the craft of producing top tequila.  As an exciting blend of three aged tequilas, Resposado, Anejo, and Extra Anejo, the entire distillery process is done by hand from filling to individually numbering each bottle. 

Then the email concludes with an offer to interview a tequila maestro and tells how the brand was created by Juan Beckmann from "the world's most prominent tequila-producing family."

No kidding.

 

Vodka, Tequila, Etcetera

In today's Washington Post, Jason Wilson takes up the concept of "tequila is the new vodka," referencing this post on Alcademics from June.  

I brought up the idea more from a product perspective- looking at the endless copycat ultrapremium tequilas launching, whereas Wilson looked at it from a cultural perspective: Now vodka is getting tired and D-List celebrities are taking it on, while A-List celebs are taking on tequila.  

As usual, a great read. 

The 21 Tequila Taste-Off

You know how it is. You're waiting to taste all the booze that comes in the mail before you file it into its appropriate liquor cabinet, and then suddenly you have 21 bottles of tequila sitting there staring you in the mouth. 

Something had to be done about it.

I try not to do tasting notes on Alcademics anymore but it was hard to deny the theme building up on my kitchen counter. So I'll do this in the form of quick notes.

These are all 100% agave tequilas, because really. I am tasting them all neat in Riedel tequila tasting glasses. 

General Notes:

• Just because the distillery is located somewhere, it doesn't mean the agave is from there. 
• "American oak" probably means ex-bourbon barrels. "New American oak" = new barrels
• Take note of the range of prices. 100% agave tequila no longer has to start at $40.
• I don't expect my tasting notes to agree with yours.
• Especially near the end of the list. I'd had a lot of tequila then. 
• That said, I double checked the Riazul the next day to be sure I agreed with my notes and I do. Wacky. 

901 Tequila

•  This is the Justin Timblerlake tequila. 
• NOM 1173
• Triple distilled
• Highland agave
• There is only a silver (blanco)
• website
• Tasting notes Blanco: very mineral-heavy (slate, granite) with light creamy agave undertones. Not robustly flavored by a long shot, with only a small mint/pepper aftertaste.
• Price: $40 (SRP), available in 31 states

Tres Agaves

• Made for the Tres Agaves restaurants but available everywhere
• NOM 1109 (Arette)
• website
• "Estate produced" in the town of Tequila (Lowlands)
• Price blanco $28 retail, repo $34 retail, anejo $38 retail
• Tasting notes Blanco: Creamy nose and rich initial mouthfeel with soft green pepper notes. Pleasant but soft finish.
• Tasting notes Reposado: Cinnamon butter toast, slightly reminiscent of the flavor of bison grass vodka, peppery finish. Dreamy.
• Tasting notes Anejo: More briney flavor, green and peppery, slightly spicy, not as woody as expected given the buttery reposado.

Tequila Semental

• New American oak barrels for reposado aging; American barrel staves with French oak caps for anejo aging. 
• Triple distilled, autoclave ovens
• Agave from Tequila and Amatitan valleys (Lowlands)
• NOM 1522
• Price blanco $39, repo $48, anejo $59 (SRP)
• Tasting notes Blanco: Funky, vegetal nose, less aggressively flavored in the mouth, a little hot on the tongue, limp finish. (On second taste after anejo, picking up the strawberry juice notes.)
• Tasting notes Reposado: Tamed funk on nose but something slightly chemical like a salty olive mousepad, nice brined green pepper flavor, restrained finish. Much better than it smells.
• Tasting notes Anejo: Nice butterscotch water and strawberry Starburst flower nose, light body with similar flavors plus tanins in mouth, scented green velour finish. Good weird.

1921 Tequila

• Highland agave, distillery in Arandas
• NOM 1535
• Master Distiller Lorena Arriaga, only female tequila master distiller
• Stone ovens
• Undergoes a second, malolactic fermentation 
• Repo 4 months in new American oak, Anejo new American oak also 
• website
• Price $38 blanco, $40 repo, $49 anejo (SRP)
• Tasting notes Blanco: Mineral nose and mouth, more creamy agave taste in mouth but not robustly flavored.
• Tasting notes Reposado: Similar in aroma and flavor, just a little more egg cream/buttery from the wood.
• Tasting notes Anejo: Slightly pickle briney nose, pleasant buttery nuttiness in mouth. My favorite of the three.

Tequila El Gran Jubileo

• Distilled in the town of Tequila (Lowlands)
• NOM 1445
• New American white oak barrels for all aging, brick ovens for cooking agave
• Reposado aged 10 months, anejo 5 years
• website
• Retail prices $31.99 blanco, $34.99 reposado, $64.99 anejo
• Tasting notes Reposado: Only a soft aroma, cinnamon salty butter mouth with slight nutty (similar to Don Julio) undertones, something strawberry/purple grape juicy in there too. Unexpected nuances.
• Tasting notes Anejo: Briney raw artichoke nose, very sweet in mouth (candied rhubarb) but thankfully not super buttery, powdered cherries and violet aftertaste. A lot more interesting than I'd initially given it credit for being.

Tequila Avion

• Apparently was featured on the TV show Entourage, because my Google alerts keeps bringing it up
• Highland agave, brick ovens, copper pot stills, filtered through activated carbon
• Reposado aged 6 months; Anejo 2 years
• NOM 1416 (Clase Azul)
• website (launches new window, resizes browser)
• Price blanco $45, repo $50, anejo $55 (SRP), available in NY, CA, NJ
• Tasting notes Blanco: Mexican vanilla and asparagus nose with mineral undernotes, weighty mouthfeel with granite, citrus, and sweet milk showing, ashy finish. I think I like this best of the three.
• Tasting notes Reposado: Subdued but similar aromatics, more lively and bright in the mouth but sweeter and maybe saltier
• Tasting notes Anejo: Slightly overripe and salty aspect to nose, chewy mouthfeel and sweet finish

Espolon

• Brand owned by Skyy Spirits. Initial launch in 2000, off market for a few years and reintroduced
• Distillery in Highlands
• NOM 1440
• Only blanco and reposado. Repo aged in American oak for 6 months
• Price $24.99 (SRP) for both blanco and reposado
• website
• Tasting notes Blanco: Overripe vegetal aroma, rusty minerals in mouth with more vegetables, ashy finish
• Tasting notes Reposado: Hot olive brine and orange flower nose, creamy dusty black pepper mouth, sandalwood finish. These are both a little odd to drink solo but may be good mixing tequilas. 

Cabo Wabo 

• This is the Sammy Hagar brand
• NOM 1440 on my bottle (same as above, and this brand is partially owned by Skyy Spirits), but Tequila.net lists it as 1467, so it appears the distillery has changed. Not sure if I have an old or a new bottle- got it a few months ago. 
• website
• price blanco $37.99 SRP, $28.99 at BevMo
• Tasting Notes Blanco: brined olive-limes, slippery mouthfeel with lime custard cream and citrus flower notes, quickly dissipating finish. Subtle but nice.

Riazul

• Highland agave, reposado American oak 9 months; Anejo ex-brandy French oak 2 years 
• NOM 1460 (El Charro)
• website
• Available in 4 states. 
• Retail prices $45 blanco, $50 reposado, $55 anejo
• Tasting notes Blanco: Mineral with light agave notes and citrus nose, edible iron,  creamed orange and blue corn chip mouth (what?) , chocolate finish. Fascinating.
• Tasting notes Reposado: Limestone and soft orange-vanilla nose, similar mouth to the blanco but darker- more chocolaty and stiff leathery.
• Tasting notes Anejo: Jasmine flowers in cinnamon butter, astringent-in-a-good-way mouthfeel with the same cinnamon butter (similar to Tres Agaves reposado) aspects and white flower and dill flavors, sweet, leathery finish. Wow.