Tequila: A guide to the premier Mexican distillate

Tequila (Spanish Tequila) is a distilled strong alcoholic drink, a subspecies of mezcal, made from fermented blue agave juice. This name belongs to Mexico since 1974, when the “Declaración General de Protección a la Denominación de origen “Tequila”, abbr. DOT) was issued. This means that the Mexican government has the exclusive right to use the word “tequila”, and each producer of this drink must obtain a license through the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

Agave (pronounced “Uh-Gah-Vee”), despite its spiny appearance, is not a cactus, but a succulent plant with a botanical classification closely related to sansevieria, yucca, and amaryllis. There are about 166 different types of agave, 125 of which are native to Mexico. And only from blue agave (Agave Tequilana Weber Azul) since 1964 it is possible to produce tequila.

The ground part of the plant reaches a height of 1,2 to 1,8 meters and looks like a giant aloe vera plant dotted with thorns. Tequila is made from the juice of the underground part of the blue agave, which is a pineapple-like tuber (“piña”) weighing from 35 to 80 kg in the lowlands and up to 125 kg in the highlands. Tubers ripen on average from 6 to 8 years, but in the cool climate of the highlands, this can take up to 12 years or even more.

Tequila Supervisory Board (Tequila Regulatory Council, сокр. CRT) is the governing body that oversees over 135 registered beverage producers. It is a private non-profit organization accredited by the Mexican government in 1994. She oversees the production of tequila, from the planting of the agave to the labeling of the bottles according to the NOM standard.

Mexico’s official quality standard (Official Mexican Quality Standard, сокр. NAME) is a set of rules for standardizing the production of tequila (specifically for tequila, this is the “NOM-006-SCFI-1994 Alcoholik Beverages Tequila Specification” and its newer editions of 2006 and 2013). Each legal entity responsible for bottling tequila is assigned its own NOM and must abide by the rules that the CRT sets out.

Tequila, according to the DOT, can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and some municipalities in the three adjacent states of Guanajuato, Michoacán and Nayarit, as well as in the state of Tamaulipas on the east coast.

The state of Jalisco and its 125 municipalities (out of 181 common to tequila) form the heart of the drink’s production area. There are two main areas here: the Amatitan Tequila Valley, where distilleries are concentrated around the city of Tequila (about 55 km west of the capital of the state of Guadalajara), and in the high mountain region of Los Altos, in the eastern part of Jalisco around the city of Arandas.

The red volcanic soils in the Tequila area are well suited for growing blue agave, and more than 300 million plants are harvested here annually. This region is called lowland (while the height there ranges from 1200 to 1600 meters). Agave here grows sweeter and smaller (due to the strong temperature difference between day and night), and drinks from it are more “masculine”, with sharp spicy, herbal and lemon flavors.

Agave, grown in the highlands of Los Altos (2000 meters above sea level), matures longer, which is why it is more expensive, but the piñas themselves are larger and give sweeter flavors and aromas in distillates. Plants grown in red (due to iron oxide) clay soils of highlands with low pH make tequila more “feminine”, with delicate floral and mineral notes in aroma and taste.

However, the sheer quantity of agave needed to produce major brands forces growers to use plants from different regions, virtually eliminating any discernible association with a regional terroir. About 70% of all agave is grown in the highlands of Los Altos, but it is distilled mainly in the lowlands of the Amatitan Tequila Valley.

Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in South America, local Indians cultivated agave from at least 300 BC. In the Aztec culture, a drink made from the fermented juice of this plant, pulque or octli, was an important part of social life and religious rites.

The soldiers of Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, did not appreciate the specific taste of the aboriginal “beer”, but the stocks of brought brandy were coming to an end. Then (around the first half of the 16th century) the first attempts were made to distill pulque, which led to the emergence of a drink called “Vino de Mezcal”, literally “mezcal wine” (even today, some Mexicans call agave “mezcal” or “maguey”) .

At about the same time, in the Caribbean and South America, European colonialists mastered the cultivation of sugar cane and the production of distillates based on it, known today as rum.

The first documentary evidence of the production of “mezcal wine” in Jalisco dates back to 1608 (the governor of New Galicia began to tax the new drink). Prior to this, around 1600, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, Marquis of Altamira and unspoken “father of tequila”, founded the first mezcal factory.

In 1795, the Cuervo family received the first license from King Carlos IV of Spain to commercially produce a drink called Mezcal Vino de Tequila. Later, not without the participation of Don Senobio Sauza, founder of the Sauza brand and president of the municipality of Tequila in 1884-1885, agave distillates began to be exported to the United States, and its name was shortened to the laconic “Tequila”. It was only in 1902 that tequila acquired its official definition, different from other agave-based spirits, which are still called mezcals (or other regional names) to this day.

Traditionally, making tequila is a labor-intensive and artisanal process. However, as in most industries, modern technology has greatly simplified and accelerated it. But even in the most advanced productions, the technology remains something of an art and always begins with the hand-picking of the agave.

Agave cultivation and harvest

Planting, caring for and harvesting agave is still manual labor. The pickers, known in Mexico as jimadores, have a deep knowledge of agave cultivation that has been passed down from generation to generation. They regularly prune the “quiotes”, the central flowered stem that the plant releases at the end of its life cycle. This allows you to save all the starch inside the “piña”, and not spend it on the development of the flower.

When the “himador” has determined that the “piña” has reached the peak of its maturity, he cuts the thorny stems with a special knife “coa” (coa de jima) and digs up the “piña”. The tubers are cut into several pieces for easy transportation and sent for baking.

It takes about 1 kg of piña to make 100 liter of 7% agave tequila.

Roasting and chopping

The collected piñas, cut in half or quarters, are baked for 50-72 hours in huge steam-heated stone ovens called horno. This is necessary for the hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates (mainly inulin) in agave juice into simple, fermentable sugars. In modern production facilities, tubers are baked in modern stainless steel autoclaves, which can reduce the process to 7 hours. The faster the baking step occurs, the greater the risk of caramelization of the sugars, often resulting in a bitter taste and loss of flavor. Therefore, slow baking in traditional ovens is much more appreciated.

After cooling, the piñas are ground with a traditional tahona stone wheel or modern roller mills. The pulp left after crushing, “bagazo” (bagazo), is fed to animals, burned as fuel or used to make paper, and the resulting juice, called “honey water” (aguamiel), is fermented.

Distillation fermentation

Fermentation can last from 2 to 5 days in a commercial distillery using cultured yeast strains, and up to 12 days in a traditional distillery using spontaneous wild yeast fermentation. The resulting must with a strength of 4-7%, which is called the “bridge” (mosto), is filtered and distilled.

For distillation, copper alambiks or stainless steel apparatus are traditionally used, but with obligatory copper elements in the design. The first distillation gives crude alcohol (ordinario) with a strength of 20-25%. Fractional re-distillation produces a “white” tequila of 55-75% ABV, which is bottled or aged in oak barrels after resting (read more about types of tequila to learn more about aging). Rarely uses triple distillation, even more rarely – re-distillation in column-type distillers.

There are two main types of tequila, mixto (“mixed”, “mixed”) and 100% agave. These two categories are further classified according to whether the tequila has been aged and, if so, how long. These are (from young to aged) Blanca, Joven, Reposado, Añejo and Extra añejo. Any of these categories can also be flavored (curados).

100 % agave

The term is used for tequila distilled from blue agave only, with no added sugars added during fermentation. 100% agave tequilas must be bottled in the region of production and are generally considered the best. The inscription on the label “Tequila 100% de Agave” or simply “100% agave” is not a guarantee of quality, but still allows you to determine the method of production and expect some authenticity from the drink.

Mixto (“mixed”)

The Mexican government allows up to 49% non-agave fermentable sugars in tequila mashes. Cane and beet sugar are commonly added, and high-fructose corn syrup is preferred in larger industries. These allowances did not come immediately: from 100% agave in 1949 (when the first official rules were established) to 70% agave in 1964 and to today’s 51% since 1970. It should be clarified that tequilas from the mixto category are not labeled as “mixto”. This means that if the label does not say “100% agave” and its derivatives, then you have a “mixed” drink in your hands.

Classification of tequila depending on the aging time:

• White (“white”) or Silver (silver, “silver”) – these tequilas are bottled immediately after distillation or after “rest” in stainless steel tanks and less often in neutral oak vats / barrels for up to 60 days. They have an expressive agave plant flavor and are good in cocktails. Some purists only accept this type of tequila, and aging is the trick of el Diablo.
• Young (“young”) or Gold (gold, “golden”) – sometimes it is a mixture of young (if it is 100% agave) and aged tequila, but more often tequilas with this mark are prepared using blanca technology, and then colored with caramel, oak extract and other dyes. They may also contain glycerin, syrups, and other additives. Rare instances of golden tequila deserve attention and are suitable mainly for mixing heavily flavored cocktails or shots.
• Restful (“rested”) – these tequilas are aged in American oak barrels and vats (pipones) of any size from 60 days to 1 year. Oak makes white tequila softer, gives it a little flavor and gives it a light straw color. Sometimes small barrels of bourbon are used for aging – then the flavor palette of the drink becomes richer and approaches añejo in character.
• Old (“seasoned” or “old”) – this is how tequilas are labeled, which were aged in oak barrels with a volume of no more than 600 liters from 1 to 3 years. Usually, French oak barrels or bourbon and sherry casks are used for this. Good aged tequila has a smooth flavor with a subtle balance of oak (vanilla, toffee, caramel, smoky and earthy undertones) and agave.
• Extra aged (“extra-aged” or “ultra-aged”) – tequila that has spent at least 3 years in an oak barrel. This category was introduced only in 2006, when connoisseurs of aged drinks around the world began to show interest in Mexican distillate. Long exposure makes extra añejo tequilas similar to premium bourbons and scotchs, sometimes even with the smoky peat notes characteristic of Islay whiskey. Ripening in the hot climate of Jalisco results in a sacrilegiously high “angel’s share”, which is why these varieties are the most expensive.
• Cured (“flavoured”) are tequilas with the addition of natural flavoring ingredients such as lemon, orange, tangerine, strawberry, pineapple and pear. There are fewer requirements for such a drink, for example, only 25% agave alcohols can be included in the composition, the remaining 75% can be fermented from cane or corn sugar. This is also a new category, which received the standard (NOM-006-SCFI-2005) only in 2006.

Today, there is a huge amount of tequila on the shelves of stores, and choosing a tasty and high-quality drink can be a daunting task.

To begin with, let’s figure out what the inscriptions on the label mean, which may help you make the right decision:

• A type (Type class)Pairing: White, Gold, Reposado, Añejo, Extra-Añejo, Reserva de Casa (anejo ограниченного выпуска).
• CleanlinessA: Only 100% agave tequilas are labeled as such. If the label does not have this inscription in any form, it is “mixto”.
• NAME: manufacturer’s registration number. Each tequila must have a NOM, it does not indicate quality.
• CRT: an indication that the Consejo Regulador del Tequila has certified the product and assigned it a NOM. This is also not a guarantee of quality, but simply a confirmation that you have a drink in your hands prepared according to the laws of Mexico.
• Hecho en Mexico: Made in Mexico. 100% agave tequilas can only be produced and bottled in Mexico, while “mixto” tequilas can be shipped to other countries in tanks or tankers and then bottled locally. Hecho a mano means “handmade” – this is not an official term, but it usually means traditional manufacturing processes.
• DOT: name or origin number, indicating conformity with Mexican regulations regarding where the product was manufactured. May not be on all labels.
• Brand name: brand name (e.g. Sauza, Jose Cuervo, Corazon). It does not indicate the manufacturer, since many distilleries produce tequila from several brands, even competing ones.
• Alcohol content: In Mexico, tequila is usually bottled at 38 to 40% ABV, which is usually dictated by customs duties. Legally, tequila can be 35-55% ABV.

As always, the rule is: what you pay for is what you get. It’s almost impossible to buy a good tequila that costs less than $15. But it is quite possible to find a soft and fragrant drink for $25-30. Of course, a high price does not mean high quality.

For reference, we have compiled a small list of worthy representatives (exclusively to our taste and in a completely different price category) of tequila that definitely deserve attention and can be considered by you as a starting point into the boundless world of Mexican distillate.

Some of them are available in the CIS, others will have to be looked for in duty free or trips abroad (from young to seasoned):

• Jose Cuervo Special (from $10). The only “mixto” on our list. The minimal price and softness make it a working tequila for cocktails. Expect a sweet taste and aroma with notes of citrus and pepper. It is not recommended to drink in its pure form.
• 1800 Silver Tequila (from $20). A good example of “silver” tequila, aged 15 days in American oak barrels with the addition of a small amount of French oak. Woody aromas are intertwined with citrus, the taste is drier with a predominance of lime.
• Don Julio Blanco (from $35). Excellent “white” tequila for expressive cocktails. Intense sweet taste and aroma of pineapple, lime and sage. The grassy-peaty finish will delight fans of scotch tape. Worthy of attention and reposado of this brand.
• Patron Silver (from $35). Aggressive marketing in the 1990s associated the Patron brand with “premium” tequila, and for good reason. The combination of traditional and modern production methods has resulted in a clean, smooth taste with undertones of citrus and white pepper. Classic agave flavor for classic cocktails.
• Legend of the Rested Miracle (from $20). The famous “rested” hay-colored tequila spends six months in bourbon barrels. The aroma of oak and spices gives way to oily tastes of citrus, toffee and vanilla. A very delicate tequila to replace whiskey in cocktails or to sip slowly from a glass. It is worth trying the “silver” tequila of this brand.
• ArteNOM Reposado 1414 (from $49). One of the most difficult tequilas in the “reposado” category. Three distilleries (1414 is the number of one of them) of the brand use agave from the same estate. Aroma of fried vegetables. The taste shimmers with salty toffee, baking spices and hot jalapeno peppers. There is a light yeasty note in the finish. Añejo ArteNOM from the 1146 distillery will captivate lovers of red French wines.
• Olmec Altos Añejo (from $27). Slow roasting in brick ovens and grinding the agave into “tahona”, and then aging in oak bourbon barrels for 18 months, gives a very soft and rich tequila with a democratic price tag. Expect vanilla and almond aromas. The palate reveals roasted aromas of vanilla, caramel, brown sugar and butter.
• Vintage Old Town (from $20). One of the best copies in terms of price and quality. Traditional production techniques and 18 months of aging in Kentucky oak barrels endow the drinker with earthy and chocolatey notes intertwined with caramel and vanilla.
• ArteNOM Fuenteseca Extra Aged (about $226). Aged tequila for high-income connoisseurs. Ideal for a cigar. 85% of spirits are aged in American oak for 9 years, the remaining 15% – in French oak barrels. The agave here is almost buried under intense notes of dried fruit, woody spices and tobacco.

From sipping neat and mixing exceptional cocktails to traditional sangrita shots. Read our material on how to drink tequila correctly and be a good gringo, because who wants to be a gringo not good?

Goodbye, my friends!