Rancho Tepua Bacanora Blanco

45.5% ABV

Bacanora is a category of agave spirits from the state of Sonora in Northern Mexico. It was illegal to produce for most of the 20th century, only becoming legal again in 1992. It is made from the Agave Pacifica which is a genetic relative of the ubiquitous Espadin which is used to produce mezcal.

This is made by the prolific Vinatero Roberto Contreras at his Viñata in Aconchi, Sonora. He pit roasts the agaves with mesquite wood for 2 days and mashes the cooked plants by hand with an ax ("Tepua" is an indigenous word that means ax). It is mixed with local spring water and fermented with ambient yeasts in stainless steel tanks for 8-12 days. The fermented mash is then double distilled in copper alembics. It has a BBQ smokey note from the mesquite wood used in cooking the agaves. Grassy and mineral driven with some tropical agave sweetness.