Mexico's Spirit of Independence Still Shines
As at many California wineries, the barrel room at Corralejo's distillery is a showcase for tourists, with windows that appear to be stained glass but are actually made of empty bottles.
There's a large art display in the distillation room as well, but it's not usually shown to the public. Dozens of wooden birdcages hang from the walls and ceiling, and all of them are empty.
The empty birdcages are meant to represent the many workers who have left Mexico to seek their fortune in the US. In some small towns in the state of Guanajato, where Corralejo is located, and especially in nearby Michoacan, many houses sit empty like birdcages, waiting for owners who may never fly home.
Don Leonardo Rodriguez Moreno, founder of Corralejo, wants an alternative: he wants people to have good jobs. In 1996, he opened Corralejo in one of the country's most historic buildings: a ranch where priest Miguel Hidalgo was born. Hidalgo's call to arms in 1810 started a war with Spain that led to Mexico's independence in 1821, though he was not alive to see it: Hidalgo was excommunicated in 1811 and then executed by a firing squad.
Don Leonardo's revolution is not so bloody. Instead, he is trying to restore the Corralejo hacienda to the type of multilevel business it had been in Hidalgo's day. Tequila was made there in the 1700s, though production had ceased for decades before Don Leonardo bought the hacienda from former Mexican president Vicente Fox, who was state governor at the time.
(By the way, before you ask how Tequila – a spirit defined by its limited production area, like a wine appellation – is made in the state of Guanajato, it's because the village where Corralejo is located is one of six small authorized communities neighboring the state of Jalisco, the main production region for Tequila.)
With his historical building in place, Corralejo began making Tequila: only 100 percent agave versions (other, lesser types are authorized). He has subsequently added a chocolate production house, a tiny bakery, a huge bottling plant nearby that also makes glass for much larger Tequila brands, a leather-goods production house, and a separate rum distillery.
"I want to present the history and the Tequila of Mexico as it should be," says Leonardo, 70. "I want to show the authentic roots of Tequila. The way a hacienda operated."
At each place, the number of workers is more than are really needed. It's shocking to visit big corporate whisky distilleries in Scotland because they are enormous factories with very few workers. In contrast, Corralejo hires workers to put its Tequila in boxes, a step that could be easily automated, and many of the Tequila boxers are single mothers.
In the production area, Corralejo plays recorded Mexican music to the used barrels in which the reposado and añejo Tequila rest. It's like high-end wineries that play classical music to their barrels.
Agave shortages have been in the news in recent years as Mezcal has boomed in popularity. I thought Tequila might have an acute agave shortage because of its limited production area, but Don Leonardo says the opposite is true. Agave fetched such a high price for the last several years that growers planted a lot of it.
Moreover, the other intoxicating cash crop that grows well in central Mexico's hot, sandy soils – cannabis – has seen its market drop because legalization in the US has meant there's not as much of a black market for imported weed. Even though a mature agave takes seven or eight years to harvest – and each plant can be harvested only once, and must be replanted – agave is now more profitable to grow than cannabis, one importer said.
Corralejo is not a small production house – it made 138,000 cases of Tequila last year. But that's a shot glass compared to the big producers; the top six are all more than 1 million cases. Jose Cuervo makes 35 percent of the Tequila consumed worldwide and it is Mexican-owned, but the next five producers by size – Sauza, Patrón, Don Julio, El Jimador and Hornitos – are all owned by international beverage conglomerates.
This is part of the reason for the boom in sales of Mezcal in the US. Tequila has an image created by big brands, whereas Mezcal, with its image of being produced in small villages, fits the aesthetic of bartenders and patrons looking for a more artisanal drink.
Tequila suffers somewhat from production regulations that were put in place decades ago to ensure consistent quality, but now work to stifle the character of the drink. For example: Tequila must be made from steamed agave hearts, whereas many Mezcals get their flavor from the roasting of the hearts. Also, Tequila must be at least double-distilled, but the second distillation – while making the drink smoother – can remove some of the character. Armagnac, for example, is usually single distilled.
I told Don Leonardo it would be interesting if Corralejo used its beautiful French-made pot stills for a single-distilled spirit, rather than using them to concentrate the alcohol created by a first distillation on a column still. He was polite about the idea, but said it couldn't be Tequila.
"We are allies with Mezcal," Don Leonardo says. "If you look at the marketing, what attracts American consumers to Mezcal is that it is produced in small villages. It's hand-crafted. It's local production. Tequila has grown into big companies. The strength for Corralejo is that it's still family-owned, Mexican production. We are a little bit bigger than most Mezcals but that is precisely our strength."
I have to disagree with him: I think value for money is Corralejo's strength. I had the chance to taste all of its Tequilas without knowing the prices, and then was pleasantly surprised when I learned them. Premium Tequila is being aggressively priced these days: Corralejo's prices are much more consumer-friendly.
Here are my suggestions for the best Tequilas in Corralejo's portfolio:
Los Arango Tequila Blanco Los Arango is a higher-end line of Tequilas from Corralejo. The company makes four blancos: this is the most interesting, with some vegetal notes from the agave in the aroma and a nice smoothness on the palate.
Corralejo Tequila Reposado "Rested" for four months in used oak barrels, this is a smooth Tequila with good length. It's quite salty on the palate with a slight hint of caramel. It's outstanding value compared to other Reposados on the market.
Corralejo 99000 Horas Añejo Tequila The name is supposed to represent the number of hours needed to make an Añejo Tequila, from the planting of the agave through the barrel aging of the spirit. Thus it's appropriate that the fruity orange notes in the nose remind me of a nice Cognac. But it's all Tequila on the palate: salty and strong up front, with a smoother finish. It's near the top of Corralejo's lineup but quite good value compared to other modern Añejos.
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