Altos Tequila

Olmeca Altos is the only tequila at its price point to use the Tahona method crafted by Bartenders for Bartenders.

Parent Company: Pernod Ricard

Location: Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico (two hours east of Guadalajara)

Master Distiller: Jesús Hernandez (maestro tequilero)

Elevation: 6,890 ft (2,100 m)

Norma Oficial Mexicana (NOM): 1111

History

Olmeca Altos was created in 2009 by acclaimed UK bartenders Dre Masso and Henrey Besant and their partner Jesús Hernandez, who has been a Masestro Tequiliero for over 17 years and is a native to Jalisco. It was the goal of the trio to fill a noticeable gap in the tequila market, by crafting a high- quality tequila that captures the authenticity of agave distillation, but also is accessible and mixable. Jesús Hernandez oversees every aspect of production, from the harvesting of the agave to the again process.

Agave

Omeca Altos is crafted at the Destilería Colonial de Jalisco, from 100% Blue Weber agave, sourced from mineral-rich volcanic soil of the Los Altos region. These agave are grown around 6,890 feet above sea level for 7-8 years before being harvest by the full-time dedicated Jimadors. Each agave plant can product around 8 bottles of tequila.

Cooking

The piñas are first cut into halves, then hand loaded in 3 traditional brick ovens. The piña halves must be carefully stacked to allow the steam to penetrate during the cooking process. Next, the piñas are slow cooked for 36 hours at 200°F, then left for an additional 8 hours to cool, allowing the sweet agave syrup to be drained and used later in the fermentation process.

Milling

The Destilería Colonial de Jalisco is unique, in that it operates both a modern roller mill and a traditional tahona millstone. Olmeca Altos is crafted from a blend of two distillates, the pure- tahona juice, and the juice from the modern roller mill. After cooking, the agave is first shredded and then pressed using the roller mill. Next, more agave is crushed using the 2-ton volcanic tahona stone in order to squeeze out every last flavorful drop from the agave plant. The tahona wheel, which dates back 500 years, mimics the walking speed of a donkey, so it takes 2 hours to crush 1.5 tons of agave.

Fermentation & Yeast

After the milling and crushing process is complete, the extracted fibrous pulp and sweet agave juices are fermented for an average of 36 hours using cultured yeast originally isolated from an agave plant.

Distillation

Olmeca Altos is 2x distilling in small-batch 100% copper pot stills.

Maturation

Ex-Kentucky Bourbon Casks (200 L)

Environmental Sustainably

98% of all organic waste from production is composted and then re-integrated into the soil of the agave fields, so that we leave the soil in better shape than we found it. The total amount of non- recycled material per month for the entire distillery would fit in the trunk of a car.

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