(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The margarita—not the martini, or the Manhattan, or even the humble daiquiri—is the most popular cocktail in the U.S. And it’s not even close. Since 2002 tequila sales have risen 121 percent overall, while sales of super-premium tequilas grew eightfold, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., a trade organization. Vodka volumes, by comparison, gained a mere 2.4 percent; rum declined by 0.2 percent.
It’s also been a time of consolidation. Global conglomerates have bought most of Mexico’s distilleries, throwing cash around like college students doing shots at the local Tex-Mex joint. In 2002 rum giant Bacardi Ltd. acquired Cazadores, a then-80-year-old Mexican brand; in January it acquired Patrón Spirits Co. at a value of $5.1 billion. Meanwhile, Sauza became part of conglomerate Jim Beam Inc. after a sale in 2005. The following year, Jack Daniel’s parent company, Brown-Forman Corp., purchased Herradura, a family-owned brand for more than 125 years. Last year, the largest of them all, Diageo Plc, gave George Clooney and associates as much as $1 billion for Casamigos Spirits Co. Once a mysterious distilled beverage from south of the border, tequila is a favorite for any occasion—from fraternity parties to business dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants.
The agave plant is a unique thing, though. Unlike grains and grapes, it doesn’t have an annual growth cycle. A piña, the sugar-rich inner heart of the blue agave plant that’s roasted and milled to produce the juice, can take up to 12 years to mature. For purists, the production of tequila is best when it’s done like Texas barbecue—the slower, the better.
But modern science and the pursuit of profit have found ways to accelerate the life cycle of the agave, using fertilizers and farming techniques to harvest piñas in half the time of traditional growth periods. Alternative roasting techniques can also cut production time. Instead of traditional brick ovens, which allow charred flavors and buttery elements to develop, autoclaves are used to roast most agaves today. Essentially giant pressure cookers, they do the job three times as quickly.
“Global brands can fall into the allure of maximizing shareholder interest by creating savings on production methods”
Some brands, such as Casa Dragones, the self-dubbed “World’s #1 Sipping Tequila,” use more high-tech tools such as diffusers, which are essentially autoclaves on steroids. Developed for rum production and adapted by Tequila Cuervo La Rojeña SA and Sauza, diffusers use more extreme pressure in their chambers to break down the piñas faster. Often, chemicals such as sulfuric acid are included to speed the process further, meaning agaves as young as three years old can be used for production despite lacking the flavor of mature ones. Tequila produced in this manner is later mixed with “agave flavoring”—yes, also developed by scientists—so the result tastes as many consumers expect it should: like something to pour into a blender for frozen margaritas.
This acceleration of the production cycle extends to the fermentation. After the agaves are roasted and milled, the juice would traditionally go into porous wooden vats that harbor natural yeasts and bacteria. These tiny microscopic magicians convert sugars and other parts of the liquid into the particular traits that make each brand unique to the place where it’s made.
Yet today, most of Mexico’s wooden fermentation tanks have been replaced with stainless-steel vats that are easier to clean and make temperature control a breeze. And chemical accelerators can induce fermentation in 36 hours vs. the three to five days usually required, allowing companies to net millions of dollars quicker.
“Global brands can fall into the allure of maximizing shareholder interest by creating savings on production methods,” says Tomas Estes, one of two men recognized by the Mexican government as an “ambassador of tequila” and the owner of his own brand, Tequila Ocho. For the broader public, these changes in tequila are largely missed. Shortcuts permeate most brands, whether it’s a $20 bottle of Sauza Hornitos, a $55 Casamigos, or Herradura’s $350 Seleccion Suprema. It obviously hasn’t hurt sales; while consumers are increasingly curious about small-batch bourbons and artisanal gins, questions about tequila are largely confined to the standard, “Salt or no salt?”
David Suro-Piñera, president of Siembra Azul Tequila, is among the handful of pioneers who began introducing in 1986 quality tequilas to Americans with his Philadelphia restaurant Tequilas. He says these shifts weren’t simply the result of technological innovation. “There were significant legislative changes that allowed producers to use immature agaves,” he says. “The influence of large companies encouraged this regulatory shift.”
Tequila has expanded broadly in the past decade, to sometimes ill effect, but it’s also reached higher. As bourbon stock has thinned during the recent American brown-spirits boom, tequila companies have begun marketing their own elite, aged-spirit alternatives. Expensive extra añejos, tequilas aged longer than three years, hold the promise of a new profit center for brands big and small.
Aging tequila as if it were whiskey isn’t the easiest thing. You don’t want it to adopt too much of a barrel’s oaky taste, as with bourbon—the agave flavor itself is what needs to be accentuated.
Nevertheless, some dedicated producers have found a way to preserve the true flavor of agave in the barrel. Among tequila enthusiasts, Siete Leguas’ D’Antano extra añejos are considered benchmarks. Founded in 1952 by Don Ignacio Gonzalez Vargas, this connoisseur’s favorite has produced beautiful tequila for generations, including the first expressions of Patrón tequila before parting ways with the brand in 2002.
And even though Sauza tequila has been bought and sold in recent years like a blue agave chip stock, not all members of the Sauza family have forgotten their roots. Guillermo Sauza, great-great-grandson of founder Don Cenobio Sauza, now produces Fortaleza, his own independent brand, in the town of Tequila. Typical of the traditional tequilas once common in this region, Fortaleza is earthier, sweeter, and full of roasted agave flavor—it has what a wine snob might call terroir. It’s a tequila Don Cenobio would be proud to know his descendants produce.
In Arandas, a two-hour drive from the Tequila Valley, La Alteña Distillery is best-known for El Tesoro, which it continues to produce with exceptional standards. Tapatio, the family brand, is made by third-generation distiller Carlos Camarena using both French and American oak for a delectable combination. At $170 a bottle, it’s still the best bargain in the tequila market. Tapatio is even available at 110 proof, in case you need an exceedingly firm reminder of what real old-fashioned tequila tastes like.
Five Fine Extra Añejos
Tapatio Excelencia ($170) is often called the single-best extra añejo tequila. Third-generation distiller Carlos Camarena makes it at La Alteña in Arandas, aging it for 5 years in barrels, then in glass jugs for an additional 10.
Orgullo Añejo ($50), a sleeper in the category, is made at Casa San Matias in Guadalajara. The distillery is rare in that it’s owned by a woman, Chief Executive Officer Carmen Villarreal Treviño, who’s overseen the production of some incredible tequilas during her 17-year run. Orgullo Añejo is rich and chocolaty—a perfect ending to any great meal, whether the cuisine is Mexican or not.
Patrón Cask Collection Sherry Añejo ($90) is an inspired concoction: Tequila and the flavors imbued by sherry barrels reflect the symbiotic colonial heritage of Spain and Mexico.
Fuenteseca 21-year-old ($900) is an argument for aging tequila over an extra-long period. Made by Enrique Fonseca, this super-premium tequila was distilled in copper double-column stills from mostly 1984 plantings harvested in 1993. After being stored for 10 years, they were moved to a higher, cooler climate for an additional 11.
D’Antaño 5-year-old ($279) has a rare, incredible flavor. Many consider Siete Leguas the best producer of aged tequila in the world. The family-owned distillery allows the oak to enhance, rather than overtake, the spirit. (With extra añejos, the oak is often so dominant that you can barely recognize the spirit as tequila anymore.)
To contact the author of this story: Bobby Heugel in New York at bobby@anvilhouston.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net, Chris Rovzar
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