How do you ensure that El Tesoro Tequila remains true to its heritage while appealing to modern consumers?
It’s very important to me to continue the vision and spirit of my father, my grandfather Don Felipe and my brother Carlos in our work with El Tesoro, which is to do things the right way, even if it is not the easy way. I’ve grown in a family full of creative and stubborn innovators, from my grandfather to my brothers, if they had a new crazy idea to make something unique, they would find the way to make it work because they were sure of what they were doing and how they wanted to do it. For example, my father created the first Extra Añejo even before it was an official category, he called it “Muy Añejo” (very aged) and he was roughly criticized for that. Then he and my brother Carlos Camarena wanted to go a step further and start aging it in ex-Cognac barrels, again hardly criticized and called crazy for bringing together these two profiles and now we have Paradiso, one of the best Extra Añejos we have. This is the school that my brother and I have acquired, this is how we were formed, and we both intend to continue.
Can you explain the traditional methods used in the production of El Tesoro Tequila and their importance?
El Tesoro translates to “the treasure” and it truly is. It tastes like no other tequila because it’s made like no other tequila. The agave has taught us to be patient, to let the time do its job, we could be faster, but we don’t want to cut any corners because we believe in honoring traditional methods, and that the time, patience, care and production done the old fashioned way is in service of celebrating the agave.
We only use fully mature agave from producers that we can guarantee they grow it carefully and focusing on the quality of it. Then we cook our agave in brick oven for about 42 hours and one extra night to let it cool down a little bit, for El Tesoro we crush the agave with a 2-ton Tahona (a very old tradition) and we are one of the only tequilas that is distilled to proof, meaning that the final profile is almost intact from the still to the bottle due to it’s not necessary to make a big dilution in order to achieve the final proof. This gives El Tesoro it’s agave forward flavor, and it is always 100% additive free. Finally, our aged tequilas are rested in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, well-beyond standard aging requirements – up to 5 years for our Extra Añejo – to create the flavor profile we're seeking.
What role does terroir play in the flavor profile of your tequila?
La Alteña is set 6,000 feet above sea level in the highlands of Jalisco, the terroir of has a discerning impact on the high quality of our liquid—the conditions of the highland climate, the iron-rich soil and spring water are unique to our land and give our liquid unmatched flavor and depth.
The climate in the Highlands region is perfect for growing the blue weber agave, giving the El Tesoro tequila a less herbaceous flavor but with a high sugar content, resulting the rounded, fruity and floral flavor.
How do you approach sustainability in agave farming and tequila production?
One of the most threatening issues affecting the sustainability of the blue agave is the fact that, during the last century, the agave has been commercially reproduced in a non-sexual way by using hijuelos (shoots or offspring that sprout from the root of the plant and are genetically identical to the mother). This causes a loss in genetic variability and natural resistance, which creates the biggest threat – the possible attack of a microorganism that could cause a disease so severe, it could wipe out the entire agave population.
Sexual reproduction is only possible once the agave plant has reached full maturity and this single act consumes all the energy (sugar) of the plant, conducting to the end of the plant’s life and of course losing that plant, which is why most of the industry reproduce in a non-sexual way. That said, if even a small percentage of the maturing plants were allowed to be pollinated and reproduced by seed, we could reverse that situation in a few decades. This would require more agave growers to sacrifice income and time since it takes more time growing agave from seed, growing it in “safest” conditions (greenhouse) for a couple of years and then transplant it into the fields, and this is something that not a lot of agave growers are willing to do.
There are two species of bats that are natural pollinators of the agave plants and other cacti. The agave is dormant during daylight and metabolizes from dusk to sunrise. The production of almost all the nectar in the agave plants occurs between 10:00pm and midnight, thus the bats are the ones feeding from the nectar and cross pollinating the agave plants.
A few years ago, one of these bat species, the “Leptonycteris yerbabuenae,” (also known as the “lesser long nosed bat”) was included in the list of endangered species both in Mexico and in the USA. One of the main reasons is because during migration, these bats could not find any food to help them through their journey while flying above the agave-growing regions. Fortunately, there is now a program that we at La Alteña are following because my brother Carlos is one of the founder members, it’s called the “Bat Friendly Project.” The program is directed by the maximum worldwide authority on bats, Dr. Rodrigo Medellin, also known as “the Batman of Mexico”, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). All agave growers that partake in the program allow at least 5% of their agave plants to reach maturity to flower and seed, which feeds the bats and in retribution we hope will bring back some genetic diversity by cross pollinating the blue agave with other agave species grown (mostly wildly) in the area. As a preliminary and immediate result of the program, the population of the lesser long-nosed bat has been recovering very fast, and in this 2018 it was officially delisted as being in danger of extinction both in the USA and Mexico.
Can you share a favorite cocktail or traditional way to enjoy El Tesoro Tequila?
The thing that I love the most about tequila is that it’s the only spirit where you can find the straight personality of its raw material (agave) since its pure expression coming out of the still, the Blanco is the full story of the agave and the process turned into liquid, if you like Blanco of any brand, you would probably love the aged expressions as well, this is why I love to enjoy El Tesoro Blanco neat, it embodies the purest expression of the process. But sometimes I’m in the mood for a cocktail and my taste is very simple, let’s have a Tommy’s Margarita or a Ranchwater, I love these two because both enhance and frame the flavor in a very respectful way. There’s no wrong or right way of enjoying El Tesoro, go for whatever you are feeling like in the moment, but as an advice, always enjoy it with company because that’s what El Tesoro is about, sharing our stories and what we are with the world.
