Hola! It's been 5-6 years since I've been on the TD F&D. Used to post a lot when living in Nola; now live in the 30A area working as beverage manager for a luxury property. Below my week in Jalisco:

Guadalajara Monday and then a 2 hour drive east to the town of Arandas where I would stay for the next 5 days. Arandas is a very small agricultural town. No shortage of places to find a mass.

Tuesday began my "work". Leyenda de Mexico owner Melly Barajas and her husband Victor pick us up and it's an hours drive to their distillery located near the town of Valle de Guadaloupe, Jalsico. To appreciate the time and labor that goes into tequila they put me to work unloading the ovens, separating the fibers, checking the proofs, bottling, etc. Chewing on warm baked agave from the oven was a treat. Similar to a strong sweet tea. If you aren't familiar with Leyenda, this is the only all female run distillery in Mexico. Them letting a goofy gringo work the line with the girls was a humbling experience. After, we had lunch of skirt steak, tequila, and amazing Mexican wine overlooking the valley. Not trying to do any product placement, but it's a good brand and people to support (and a great sipper). Barrel room was full of snakes so that's as far as I went. Leyenda de Mexico

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Wednesday we were picked up by global brand ambassador Magally Franco. On the way to La Altena she asked if it was ok we stopped at the new Tequila Ocho distillery so she could complete some paper work (umm yes please). It's still under construction but we got to sip Ocho from the still.

La Altena distillery to Mexico is what Old Forester or Woodford is to America. Since 1937, they started producing Tapatio followed by El Tesoro in the 1980s and finally Ocho in 2008. We sipped from the stills for a good hour and appreciated how it evolved over time (and then somehow still had to do the actual sit down tasting). The brands differ based on the milling process.
El Tesoro - 100% from old tahona stone;also the least efficient way of extracting sugar, thus higher price.
Tapatio - mix of metal grinder and tahona milled agave.
Ocho - 100% metal grinder.

We sat in the tasting room/patio and Magally sampled us on 2 different batches of Ocho Blanco, Tapatio Blanco, and El Tesoro Blanco. No repo or anejo you ask? She explained how to really appreciate agave you need to enjoy the blanco first. Her woman to tequila metaphor summed it up:
Blanco is your woman in bed waking up. No makeup, hair messed up, but you love her in it's purest form.

Reposado is her meeting your parents. She takes a little time to get ready and is the life of the party.

Anejo is your wedding. Takes a few years but time only makes her better.

Extra Anejo is your 5 year anniversary. Enjoyed somewhere special with close friends.

I asked what about mixto tequila (brands who cut with sugarcane and additives like Sauza, Cuervo, etc) she said that's the hooker you had during spring break you want to forget about.

That random pipe in the wall is their well water source. Very high in iron. Yes, I drank from that.

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Being stuck in the rain at La Altena did not suck at all. Magally dropped us off at Carnitas Jaimies which has been said to have the best carnitas in all Jalisco; some say all of Mexico. I wish there was a way to upload video but it was the best pork I've ever had.

Thursday morning took us to the village of Jesus Maria, Jalisco to visit El Pandillo distillery. Pedro Camarena (of the famed family of distillers) was rocking out to BB King which I approved. El Pandillo opened in 2011 producing G4 then Volans a few years ago followed by Pedro's brand Primo 1861 which was released in July.

Owned by Felipe Camerana, this small operation was the first to come up with this grinder using a railcar axle as the weight to press the juices. Perfectly level, it only uses a 1hp electric motor to turn. In perspective, the Carousel Bar uses a 1/4hp electric motor.

Pedro had to go into a meeting and left us with Oscar who's in charge of distillery operations. Like Leyenda, they don't host people so our "tasting room" was someone's office/break room. Got to sample all the brands including some special experimental stuff and their 2021 jug which was a bit of everything they made that year.

They are building a new barrel and tasting room expected to be completed summer 2023. With no internet or cell service, they are still working logistics to host visitors. Not pictured were the 3 stone masons carving each by hand. Impressive.

Families first tahona from the 1860s

Duct tape knows no cultural boundaries

Apparently, we picked a great week to stay in Arandas as the Festival of September began (even though it was August). The streets shut down and about 1000 people on horseback paraded around town, tequila distillers set up sidewalk bars, street food vendors, and all was a great time.

Tequila Ocho's booth with Marifera Camarena (owners daughter). I've purchased a few barrels from this family so I introduced myself. Being the only white guy in town all week she immediately knew who I was. Ocho Blanco, squeeze of lemon, orange, grapefruit, pinch of salt.

Yellowstone fan club?

Tacos Al Pastor

Friday Hotel Gala in the Americana neighborhood of Guadalajara. It's like a mix of uptown Nola and Brooklyn. Classy people, hipsters, and a few like myself in khakis.

De La O Bar. Unpretentious cocktail bar with free snacks like cactus and salsa while you drink

Leyenda team took us out to lunch Friday. The grasshoppers were tasty!

Pare De Sufrir. A Mezcal bar. 30 ish mezcals, maybe 2 tequilas. Think Bywater hipster bar but everyone is extremely nice.

10 course tasting menu at the chef bar @ Alcade. Lots of good Mexican wine. The lengua with mole was primo.

Tortas! From a Ninja Turtle themed place right behind the hotel.

Goat tacos and a local craft brew at Vietnam Bar GDL

Finally found some birria.

Cheers

This post was edited on 8/30/22 at 1:08 pm