Tequila Origenes, 'Fibras & Fuego'

• Blanco tequila produced by Familia Landeros (NOM 1599) in El Medineño, Jalisco
• Maestro Tequilero René Carranza
• 100% Azul aka Blue Weber (Agave tequilana)
• Cooked 16 hours using a small autoclave
• Crushed using a small roller mill
• 95% of the blend is naturally fermented for 5–10 days in open-air stainless steel vats without fibers using only ambient yeast; 5% is a micro-batch fermented with fibers in an open, 8-liter stainless pot still using only ambient yeast
• 95% distilled twice using stainless steel pot stills, 5% is distilled twice in an 8-liter stainless steel pot still
• Lovely and loud, practically climbing out of the glass with bold aromatics of roasted apple, sweet potato, pomegranate, toasted cinnamon, orange and lime zests, wet stone, bamboo, and pineapple cake. The palate makes good on those promises and more, with a silky texture and a subtle heat that makes a late appearance following notes of cooked parsnip, honeycomb, lemon curd, white pepper, a touch of clove and fennel seed, and damp tree bark.
• 46% ABV

Maestro tequilero René Carranza has been developing a reputation for his tinkering and experimentation—his passion and curiosity for the art of distillation—as much as for his superlative work producing Atanasio Tequila. After acquiring a tiny 8-liter stainless steel pot still, René began playing with different raw ingredients, filling his still with crushed pears or other fruits, open-top fermenting with ambient yeast, and distilling the tiniest amount to share with friends and visitors as he explored the possibilities. The same experimental approach is here applied to a tiny amount of his cooked agave, which is mashed and loaded to the edges of his little 8-liter pot then sealed in after fermentation, still brimming with fiber, and kissed by the blue flames of the gas heater in two micro-distillation runs. This dense and richly complex tequila—which could hardly be made on a smaller scale—is then blended with a batch of René’s beloved Atanasio Orígenes high proof tequila, yielding something at once familiar and distinctly different. Like the first Orígenes bottles before it, this very special production, dubbed Fibras y Fuego (“Fibers & Fire”), began as a different project, intended to be sold only at the fabrica to those few who made the journey to visit in person. Thankfully, after some cajoling, it has instead wound up as the exact opposite: Atanasio’s first US-exclusive limited release!