Up in the atmospheric highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, exists not one but three very special distilleries, Fabrica el Centenario, Fabrica La Victoria and Fabrica La Vencedora. It is here that the revered Siete Leguas tequila is made, and a particularly notable iteration of this notable spirit has recently been produced.
Siete Leguas has reason to celebrate as 2022 marks its 70th anniversary. Seventy years is an important milestone, and calls for a distinguished celebration. The brand has decided to mark the occasion with the creation of the Siete Leguas Special Limited Edition, a tequila made using creole agaves.
Wild power
As any tequila aficionado knows, all tequila must be made from the Blue Weber agave varietal, and while these creole agave have a different name, they are still classified as Blue Weber too. However, the creole is different in that they grow wild, as opposed to most Blue Weber, which are now cultivated. The creole agave grows on hillsides and takes up to 10 years to mature – in comparison to the usual seven years of ‘normal’ Blue Weber – and because the plants receive less water while growing, they are smaller and have more concentrated sugars.
All of this results in a plant that produces richer, more robust flavours, a trait that the Siete Leguas team has worked hard to preserve through its production processes as the creole agave take the journey from plants to liquid.
Following harvesting, they are slowly roasted in stone ovens for three days, and then crushed using the traditional technique of a tahona wheel. This huge, heavy wheel made from volcanic rock is rolled over the agave, crushing the fibres and slowly extracting the sugars, making them ready for fermentation.
Natural character
While Siete Leguas is one of the few tequila brands to normally incorporate some tahona-crushed liquid in its main tequila range, mixing it with liquid extracted using mechanised roller mills, this 70th anniversary edition uses tahona liquid only. It is a process that results in a richer, rounder flavour than the more common, mechanised methods used by most producers today.
Wild yeast fermentation and double distillation in small copper pot stills both occur with agave fibres kept in the liquid, before the final product is bottled at a slightly elevated abv of 42%.
The result is a stunning spirit of incredible smoothness – a truly remarkable tequila, fit for a significant anniversary.
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