Fortaleza Blanco Tequila

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 40% | Chill filtration: Yes | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Fortaleza Blanco puts agave centre stage without cask ageing. It is made from 100% blue Weber agave from the Tequila Valley in Jalisco. After distillation, the tequila is held in stainless steel tanks until bottling. Spring water is used to bring it to a bottling strength of 40%; the bottle contains 0.7 litres.

The agaves are cooked for more than 30 hours in a masonry oven, then crushed with a tahona, a heavy stone wheel. This crushing takes around five to six hours. The resulting must is then fermented for around three and a half days in wooden vats and distilled twice in copper pot stills. The packaging is also part of this craft approach: each glass bottle is individually hand-blown.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, cooked agave and citrus peel meet butter, olive brine and black pepper. Vegetal notes round out the aromas.
• Palate: On the palate, citrus fruit and lime combine with vanilla, basil and olive. The texture is creamy and silky, accompanied by a pronounced vegetal character.
• Finish: The long, savoury finish leaves mineral impressions, spice and citrus notes.

Distillery/Bottler:

Destilería La Fortaleza is located in the town of Tequila in Jalisco. There, Guillermo Sauza revived his family's legacy of tequila production, which dates back to the 1870s. When his grandfather sold the family business in 1976, the property with the old distillery remained in the family's ownership. Following its restoration, tequila returned to the market in 2005.

For the relaunch, Guillermo initially considered using roller mills. However, the results achieved with the existing tahona persuaded him to rely entirely on stone crushing and small-batch production. In Mexico, the family also uses the brand name Los Abuelos; Fortaleza is the name of the distillery and the brand used internationally. Both names refer to the same tequila.

Facts: