Mike Morales and Eric Zandona taste and discuss Ayate Tequila Anejo, a wine barrel aged tequila from the same distillery that brings you Desmadre Tequila.
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Ayate consists of two very special and unique tequilas, a Reposado and an Añejo, which have been meticulously handcrafted and matured with a great deal of care. Each individual agave is selected by Rosendo Ramirez Senior who has been farming in the region for his entire life. The hearts of the plant (piñas) are then expertly extracted by jimadors that have worked the fields for decades.
The piñas are transported to the distillery, the core is removed and then they are precisely cut into four segments, which is a labor intensive and rare process. Roasting takes place in an autoclave with a proprietary process and the sweet juices are slowly coaxed out of the pinas and separated for fermentation.
The distillation is done in a traditional copper pot still to emphasize and extrapolate the most complex esters. The Reposado is aged for four months in new American oak barrels followed by four months of finishing in Chardonnay barrels. The Añejo is aged for two months in new American barrels, then transferred to used French oak barrels for a resting period of four months and finally finished in Chardonnay barrels for six months. The tequila is cut with spring water sourced from the property. Bottling takes place by hand on site at Casa Ramirez. The custom bottle, designed by Dave, is produced in Mexico and hand painted with precious metals.
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