La Venenosa
Costa
de Jalisco

AMARILLO / CHICHO AGUILAR

La Venenosa Raicilla Costa is produced by Maestro Tabernero Don Alberto Hernández in the village of Llano Grande of the coastal region Cabo Corrientes, 700 metres above sea level. The agave in this Raicilla varies widely from batch to batch. Certain batches are 100% Agave Rhodacantha (Mexicano) and others are an ensamble of Amarillo and Chicho Aguilar. It is roasted in a wood-fired adobe oven. When the oven is completely full with the agave, water is poured to make steam and pressure inside of the oven, and is immediately sealed and the agave is left to cook for 6 days.

The agave is squeezed by hand with a tree trunk mallet, the juice is fermented for 8 days, and is then distilled twice in a Filipino still made out of copper and a hollowed-out tree trunk. It rests for a minimum of 1 month before being bottled. The flavour is complex, bouncing around between fruit, spice, pine and herbs, eventually settling on sweet spice.

La Venenosa
Tabernas III

CHICO AGUIAR / MAXIMILIANA

“Tabernas” are small scale Raicilla distilleries that use artisan methods, and their distillers are known as “taberneros”. La Venenosa Raicilla Tabernas is a project that was taken on as a way to produce a raicilla at a price point which can be used for cocktails. Tabernas is made from cultivated agave Chico Aguiar and Maximiliana, which Maestro Benito and Jose Salcedo, grow from seed. They apply their knowledge of the agriculture practices required to germinate and care for these seeds. The agave is roasted in an adobe clay oven fueled by black oak and is then fermented in oak vats with natural yeast for 7 days, then distilled once in a stainless steel/copper alembic still. It rests for a minimum of 1 month before being bottled. The nose has citrus peals and herbs and the palate is dry with notes of cooked agave.

La Venenosa
Tabernas Reposado

CHICO AGUIAR / MAXIMILIANA

An experiment from Esteban Morales and the team at Casa Endemica, where they take the Tabernas III from the taberna helmed by Jose and Benito Salcedo, and rest it for 3 months in an ex - Dios Baco Oloroso sherry cask. This is the world’s first raicilla reposado, definitely not one to miss.

La Venenosa
Sierra
Occidental
de Jalisco

MAXIMILIANA

This Raicilla is produced by Maestro Tabernero Don Ruben Peña in the mountains in the village of Mascota, Jalisco. At 1,500 metres above sea level, Don Ruben cultivates Agave Maximiliana from seed. The agave is roasted in a wood fired adobe oven and he uses wild yeasts to ferment the aguamiel, or must, in 200 litre vats. Distillation is performed in an arabic-philippino still and bottled after only one pass.

La Venenosa
Sierra
del Tigre

INAQUIDENS

La Venenosa Raicilla Sierra del Tigre is made by master Taberenero Don Luis Contreras in the village of Manzanilla de la Paz, which is approximately 2,000 metres above sea level. This Raicilla is made from agave Inaquidens, which is locally known as Bruto. This agave grows wild in coniferous forests and it is roasted over wood embers in an earthen oven. Left to cook for 5 days, it is then crushed manually with a wooden mallet.

Fermentation occurs in wooden tubs for about 10 days, then the juice is distilled with the agave fibre in clay pots. The still used for this Raicilla is ceramic, Filipino style. It rests for a minimum of 1 month before being bottled. Limited, rare, super small annual productions of about 700 L per year, this is one for the true agave lovers.

La Venenosa
Puntas

MAXIMILIANA

La Venenosa Puntas is considered one of the most prized and rare spirits, as it is taken exclusively from the heads (puntas) of the distillation. The cuts required to get only the puntas during distillation are extremely short and must be made very carefully, and the result is a spirit at 60-70% ABV.

The agave Maximiliana used is from the area of Jacales, high in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Jalisco. Roasted in adobe ovens, fuelled by black oak, then roller milled to extract maximum flavour, the juice is fermented for 6 days in food-grade plastic, stone and oak vats. Then it is distilled without fibre in a stainless steel still and rests for a minimum of 1 month before being bottled.

La Venenosa
Etnica
Tutsi

MASPARILLO / MAI

La Venenosa Raicilla Etnica Tutsi is made from Maguey Masparillio or Maguey Mai, an unclassified, mostly unknown species of agave that is endemic to the region of northwest Jalisco. Etnica is an extension of the La Venenosa line of Raicillas that serves as a platform to bring agave spirits from indigenous ethnic groups to the market. This agave spirit is from the Huichol people in northwest Jalisco.

While we call this spirit a Raicilla for ease of use on this site, Tutsi is the name that is used to describe it locally. Tutsi was believed to be lost for about 25 years, and there is currently only one practising producer remaining. This Tutsi is single distilled in a Huichol style still hollowed out from a tree trunk. Earthen ovens, fuelled with black oak and pine, hand-ground, stone pool fermentation all add layers to a true collector’s item.

The bottle is draped with a handmade Huichol beaded necklace and comes in it’s own wooden box.