Santanera Organic Batch Ceniza Blanco Tequila

Blanco Tequila produced at Tres Mujeres in Amatitán, Jalisco (NOM 1466)

• Maestro Tequilero Sergio Cruz with Pablo Lara G. and Senior Distiller Manuel Rivera
• 100% Blue Weber agave (A. tequilana) matured 7 years
• Agave harvested from organic-certified single estate ‘El Llano Grande’
• Cooked in a traditional brick and volcanic stone steam oven
• Milled using a mechanical roller mill
• 11-day open-air spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel
• Distilled 2–3 times using stainless steel pot stills
• Blended and chill filtered before resting in glass for 196 days
• Delicate fresh herbs, citrus peel, faint raspberry, a kiss of caramel, sundried tomato, sweet parsnip, soft clay, rainwater, subtle saline, with a subtle charred note on the finish
• Only 1,166 bottles produced
• Jay Kosher and organic certified
  

When security cameras alerted the Santanera team to a deadly wildfire, blazing through the parcel dubbed “El Llano Grande,” a desperate race against time began to harvest the seven-year-old maguey before they hardened from the fire. Miraculously, the majority of the agave survived, and the group decided that this unique, scorched agave would be the centerpiece of their next annual Organic release: Batch “Ceniza” (meaning “ash”).

Carrying out organic agriculture comes with great risk. Allowing natural grassland coverage in agave fields comes with a growing danger of wildfire during increasingly dry winter seasons; what’s more, in recent years poaching of mature agave has become a widespread problem, such that Pablo and his group have installed security cameras around their parcels to monitor cultivation.

On January 26, 2023, these security cameras alerted the Santanera team to a deadly threat. A wildfire had begun to blaze at the plot they’d dubbed “El Llano Grande”—someone had carelessly dropped a soda bottle, and sunrays magnified by the glass sparked the dry foliage in the field. So began a desperate race against time. The team dropped everything and bolted to the field, executing a rapid jima to harvest the seven-year-old maguey before they hardened from the fire. Miraculously, the majority of the agave survived, and the group decided that this unique, wildfire-scorched agave would be the centerpiece of their next annual Organic release.

Thus, we bring you Batch “Ceniza” (meaning “ash”)—a moving encapsulation of Santanera’s aim to capture distinct terroir and a unique moment in time by distilling micro batches of tequila as an authentic, unrepeatable testimony to where and when they were produced—and at times, the great obstacles overcome in pursuit of that purity.