Batch Ceniza (Ash), our new label for 2023.
— Casa Santanera
7 years of waiting and the fire came.
On January 26, 2023 at 2:48 p.m., we had a fire alert on one of our security cameras, the terroir was on fire, we imagined the worst, that the harvest was completely lost, fortunately the vast majority of our agaves resisted, Below we share the real image.
Organic farming risks
Carrying out agriculture organically takes great risks, since as part of the norm we must allow coverage in the beds, that is to say, have grassland in the corridors of the terroir, in the dry season it is highly risky since any fathom can spread the fire, this is what happened to us, these risks are worth taking if it´s for the good of the planet and all the living beings that depend on it, you can learn about some of our organic terroirs in the following link>
Terroir Characteristics
Batch Ceniza comes from the terroir El LLano Grande> the "Hijuelo" of this plot was established in May 2016, clayey soil with a highly mineral grayish color caused by its proximity to the Tequila volcano, the planting table is 1.30 X 2.50mt, the care of the plot is carried out with organic farming method.
Pantone 15-4003 TCX
Each of our organic batches is characterized by a label color that we do not repeat, in this case the inspiration for the storm gray color is due to the natural tones of the ash.
January 2023
Selection
Saving the Agave!
We had very little time, since the fire after a few days causes the agave to harden, fortunately the agave was in its full stage in year 7 and resisted this inclemency, when we made the measurements with the (Brix) we realized that the level was above 40, something very good was coming, a big batch.
Plot location: 20°45’36.0″N 103°39’37.0″W
January 2023
Jima y repele
Jima, Santanera.
Today is January 31, 2023, we started at 7:15 am in the “El Llano Grande” terroir, we carried out random measurements with the brixometer, this instrument allows us to know the percentage of sugar in our supreme organic agaves, we wanted to confirm that it was not we were losing brix due to the fire, we confirmed that we were not and started the “Jima”.
What is the jima? It means cutting the swords of the agave to leave only the stalk, the pineapple. In this case it was not a regular jima, it is a Santanera jima… What is the difference? We make the first jima in the terroir, when we finish it we make a second one that we call “Repele” just before loading the oven, this is intended to leave the pineapple or stalk completely white like jicama, due to the conditions of fire in The repellent plot was even more intense. This practice is very rare in the industry due to the loss it implies, but we are not looking for liters of tequila, we are looking to create emotions from the aromas and flavors.
February 2023
Schedules
Masonry Oven
For Batch Ceniza (Batch Ash), an oven covered inside with volcanic stones was used, this helps to achieve earthy notes and intensify the aromas and flavors.
CONTINUOUS DIRECT STEAM
February 2 and 3 6:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
February 2
19 TOTAL HOURS WITH DIRECT STEAM
February 3rd
26 TOTAL HOURS WITH DOOR CLOSED WITHOUT STEAM
February 4
15 TOTAL HOURS OPEN DOOR
February 2023
Mills
Organic juice extraction
Today, February 4, 2023 at 1:00 p.m., we began grinding our supreme agave, we finished at approximately 5:30 p.m., we had a total of 22,674 liters of must at 12 brix with a temperature of 30° in the fermentation vat.
Vat 4. 5,004 liters
Vat 5. 8,972 liters
Vat 6. 8,698 liters
February 2023
Sonic Harmonization
Mozart Fermentation
We are ending the winter season in El Arenal, Jalisco at an average temperature of 22°-28°, it is 6:30 p.m. on 02/04/2023 the juice (Mosto) finished falling into the fermentation vats from the milling, we predict that the yeast with this room temperature will stop working between Monday February 13 / 16, as always the yeasts are accompanied by classical music by Mozart 24/7, we have verified that new esters are created from this sonic exposure.
Note: From #BatchPiedra we decided to work with wild (wild) yeasts. We made this decision to leave the original characteristics of the agave intact, that is, to push the contribution of the terroir to the limit.
Natural fermentation in winter & Wild Yeast
This stage is where the greatest amount of aromas are created, which is related to the outside temperature caused by the season of the year in which we are fermenting. Batch Ceniza was fermented in the winter season, which allowed us to lengthen the fermentation time. , thus gaining more aromas and flavors. At Casa Santanera we distill micro batches that leave an organic and unrepeatable testimony of when they were produced.
First day
(Start Fermentation)
Saturday February 4, 2023
Saturday February 4, 2023
Measurement socket: 12° Brix, temperature 30°
Monday, February 6, 2023
Measurement socket: 6° Brix, temperature 31°
Tuesday February 7, 2023
Measurement socket: 4.5° Brix, temperature 30°
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Measurement socket: 4° Brix, temperature 29°
Thursday February 9, 2023
Measurement socket: 3.19° Brix, temperature 26.3°
Friday February 10, 2023
Measurement socket: 2.9° Brix, temperature 24.6°
Monday, February 13, 2023
Measurement socket: 2.3° Brix, temperature 22.6°
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Measurement socket: 2.3° Brix, temperature 20.8°
February 2023
Distillation
Manuel Rivera, Senior Distiller.
Responsible for the distillation cuts from our first #BatchInicial (2016), a Master Distiller with enormous talent, his father Don Rodolfo Rivera Rivera, originally from the Los Riviera pasture in Tequila Jalisco, taught him the art of working in a still as a child. hence his mastery and ability to make the best cuts in the world.
Destroying and rectifying cuts:
February 15 and 16, 2023
First tequila in the world Double & Triple distilled blend
On February 15 we started the distillation cuts which we finished on February 16 at 6pm, the first aromatic notes that it is delivering are butter and bread. Casa Santanera was the first tequila in the world to produce a blend between cuts, which adds elegance and complexity to our organic collection.
July 2023
Glass Aging
Ancient Rest
Today, July 3, 2023, we begin at 8:30 a.m. the transfer of our micro oxygenation tank to the glass maturation area, an ancestral process that provides balance and allows us to polish the texture in the mouth of Batch Ceniza, resulting in greater smoothness, taming the attack of alcohol, having a velvety silky perception on the way from mouth to throat, it is the first batch of our “Organic Terroir®” collection that we incorporate this process, we are excited to share it with you very soon.
Note: We finished transferring the stainless steel tank to the jugs on July 4 afternoon.
July 2023
Tasting Note
On Friday, July 28, 2023 in Mexico City, the tasting note for the Batch Ceniza (ash) was held at the EM restaurant with Chef Lucho Martínez, this will be shared prior to the official launch before December 2023, stay tuned for our site and official social media.
