Tequilana capón | January 2022 | Wilfrido García Sánchez | TEQWGS2201 | Puesto 2023 exclusive | 258 bottles
The Tequilana agave has been present in Miahuatlán for nearly 40 years, as a result of long-standing commercial relationships between Oaxaca and Tequila, Jalisco. Most of these agave have been sold back to middlemen and producers in Jalisco but quite a few palenqueros in Miahuatlán have used the maguey in their own local productions. The flavors of the distilled spirit are quite interesting and can serve as a wonderful teaching tool. The base is entirely Logoche in its profile, but the strength of the Tequilana agave flavors shine through in beautiful form. As such, these Tequilana batches can help clarify the very specific regional qualities of Logocheño terruño (terroir) through the more familiar and identifiable flavors of the agave.
On a stretch of red earth located between Logoche and Miahuatlán. Ramón and Wilfrido’s uncle, Eduardo, has been growing naturally fertilized and immaculately cared for agave for decades. Until the shutdowns that came with the pandemic of 2020, nearly all of these agaves were contractually bound for Jalisco, where his organically cultivated Tequilana plants made their way into anonymous Tequila productions. With this loss of business, their Tío Lalo began to offer up this maguey to his nephews, who in turn have begun to use it in the crafting of their spirits. Following the success of two previous productions earlier in the year, Wilfrido returned in December 2021 to his uncle Lalo’s parcel to harvest an additional 1,500kg of capón Tequilana plants that were between seven and eight years of age.
Roasted to perfection with mesquite wood over six days at the end of December 2021, the agave was unearthed and processed during January 2022. In response to the colder winter temperatures, the fibers and juices (guarape) required a total of 17 days of fermentation before the tinas were ready for distillation. Wili composed a total of 210L, adjusting with heads, hearts, and a cut of high-proof tails, settling in at 47.9% ABV. This batch was selected for an exclusive bottling for Puesto.
§ Maguey(es): Tequilana (Agave tequilana var.)
§ Provenance of the maguey: Homegrown by Wili’s uncle Eduardo
§ Producer: Wilfrido García Sánchez
§ Region: Logoche, Miahuatlán
§ Soil type: Tierra roja and tierra colorada
§ Rest time after harvest: Six days
§ Oven: Conical earthen pit; six days with mesquite wood
§ Rest time after oven: Eight days
§ Maceration: Machete and shredder
§ Fermentation: Native yeasts, two 1200L capacity Montezuma cypress sabino wood vats
§ Dry fermentation time: 48 hours
§ Wet fermentation time: Fourteen days
§ Distillation: 2x in copper pot stills
§ Final composition: Heads, hearts, and tails
§ Batch size: 210L
§ Date of distillation: January 2022
§ ABV: 47.9%