BOTTLE DETAILS
- DISTILLER: Humberto Alvarado and processed by Cazcanes Tequila (NOM 1614)
- MASH BILL: 100% Blue Weber Agave fermented spontaneously with airborne yeast
- AGE: None
- YEAR: 2025
- PROOF: 94 (47% ABV)
- MSRP: $110
- BUY ONLINE: Cazcanes On-line Bottle Store
STEVE’S NOTES
SHARE WITH: Followers of any agave spirit, particularly those that love one thing a little bit funky, vegetal and packs a gentle proof punch. For those who’re a faithful blanco tequila fan, you do not need to miss this.
WORTH THE PRICE: Completely. It is a uncommon bottle you will by no means remorse shopping for.
BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle if you could find it. Imagine me, it is definitely worth the hunt.
OVERALL: In January, Cazcanes Tequila invited a gaggle of bartenders, influencers and writers to Mexico to see not solely its distillery (close to Amatitan, Jalisco), however the very distillery that impressed its homeowners to create their model. The drive northwest from our base in Guadalajara to Magdalena (the named location closest to the unnamed distillery) was a trek of about 2.5 hours into deeply rural farming nation. The final 20 minutes of the journey completed on tough dust roads, crossing small streams and the place speeds averaged lower than 10 mph.
Lastly, the distillery, operated by distiller Humberto Alvarado and his household, got here into view atop a small hill. On the tech-free rustic web site sat a easy copper pot nonetheless and hand-fabricated autoclave (steam-fed agave strain cooker), each fired by wooden. Within the mattress of a close-by pickup truck have been cooked agave halves {that a} employee used an ax to cut into items. These items have been then fed to a shredder powered by a straight-six-cylinder, muffler-free truck engine. Because the nice fibers have been shot about 10 ft from the shredder to a concrete wall which stopped them, they have been gathered by shovel right into a water-filled trough, hand rinsed of their nectar, which was then moved to an open fermenter. There, spontaneous fermentation would start and switch the mosto fresco right into a mosto muerto “beer” in three to 5 days. (Take a look at this quick Instagram video of the place by videographer Doug Value.)
Whereas you will have to see this place to grasp the way it works, you want solely style the agave spirit trickling off the nonetheless–at about 130 proof–and right into a plastic 55-gallon drum to be nice with all of it. It was fantastically scrumptious, vegetal, candy, spicy, candied, minty and, not surprisingly, potent.
Regardless of utilizing nothing however Blue Weber agave to provide this spirit, it can’t be referred to as tequila for the reason that distillery is not registered with or regulated by the federal government. What’s cool, although, is the agave spirit made right here might be bought legally by the distiller to locals or traded for no matter they want. Sounds precisely like what occurred within the U.S. earlier than the federal government noticed the possibility to boost income on whiskey.
Wanting to provide agave spirits followers an opportunity to style it, Cazcanes partnered with Alvarado to buy the spirit, proof it to 94 (47% ABV) at its distillery, and launch bottles to the market. Belief me, I am grateful to get a bottle for assessment.
The nostril on that is loopy: sharp and shocking if all you have ever nosed is frequent blanco. The cascade of aromas is deeply vegetal and serrano peppery, pleasantly malolactic (barely bitter), loaded with petrichor and dried epazote and oregano. Dried grapefruit peels are about as candy as this nostril will get although some cinnamon chewing gum lurks within the background.
The palate is scrumptious and adventurous, racing from candy to tart to vegetal to minty to petrichor and again … all within the first few seconds of sip No. 1. What presents as spice on the nostril turns into dryness and a nice coarseness on the tongue that, in case you cease sipping for a second, wintergreen seems. Additional sips supply up recent, lemony notes that flip a little bit oily to counter the preliminary coarseness. Hold at it and cinnamon sweet seems alongside hints of vanilla. The flavors are countless, not like the time I can commit to this assessment. However belief me, I might go on.
Context issues a lot to every little thing I write, and visiting the Alvarado distillery absolutely provides to the expertise of consuming this spirit. However even when I hadn’t tasted it off the nonetheless, seen how and the place it is made and listened to the person who makes it, this is able to nonetheless be probably the most superb agave spirits I’ve ever loved.
BRAND NOTES
Nuestras Raíces—Spanish for “Our Roots”—is a tribute to the deep-rooted traditions of agave distillation, crafted by Humberto Alvarado, a third-generation distiller within the coronary heart of Jalisco. Utilizing a centuries-old household recipe, Humberto preserves the true essence of agave, honoring time-honored strategies that remember purity and craftsmanship.
We name it “Jugo de la Selva”—Jungle Juice—a uncooked and unfiltered expression of agave in its wildest type. Nuestras Raíces is vibrant, vegetal, and intensely agave-forward, capturing the untamed character of agave in its purest state. Each drop embodies the fingers that formed it, the spring water that nourished it, and the ancestral information that has stood the check of time.
Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter acquired a pattern of this product from the model for assessment. We admire their willingness to permit us to assessment their merchandise with no strings connected. Thanks.
