La Venenosa Sierra Raicilla

The bouquet is pungent, with fruit shrub notes with a sharp sourness overlaid with sweet lemons, apples and grapes. Sweetness is at the heart of this, with syrupy notes balanced by the sourness and delicate touches of spice. A fruity palate, with fruit loaf soaked in unsweetened lemon and lime juice spread with sweet butter and dusted with icing sugar. As the fruitiness fades, minerality and spice emerge from the shadows. Soft and lingering, with sweet creamy notes slowly becoming spicy before fading away to a dry, apple skin note finish.

Produced for over 500 years in the Mexican state of Jalisco, Raicilla is a Mezcal that adopted a new name in the 1780’s to avoid a tax levied by the Spanish Crown. Jalisco offers a plethora of agave species, second only to Oaxaca. These, along with great diversity in terroir, equipment and techniques, give Raicilla an amazing spectrum of flavour and history. This Raicilla is produced by Maestro Tabernero Don Alberto Hernández in the village of Llano Grande of the coastal region Cabo Corrientes, 700 metres above sea level. Don Alberto cultivates a mix of agaves: Rhodecantha and Angustifolia. Rhodecantha matures after 12 years and Angustifolia after eight. The agave is roasted in a wood fired adobe oven. It is distilled two times in a Philippino still made out of copper and a hollowed out tree trunk. La Venenosa Raicilla range was created by Chef Esteban Morales to bring these hidden jewels to the global market. Esteban traversed the state in search of the best producers in each region. Every one of these Raicilla expressions is unique; created by different Maestro Taberneros in distinct regions, from different species of agave using diverse techniques, the individual results are astounding.