HANDMADE MEZCAL
In the Historical Archive of the National Bank of Mexico (BANAMEX) were found antecedents of mezcal production in the Jaral region. In the inventory of the testament of the Marquis of Jaral de Berrio (1780), appear in chapter 31 (Memories of wines, beers, barrels and empty bottles), 60 bottles of Jaral criollo brandy. This confirms that since the year of 1780 at least, mezcal was produced in that region. Likewise, Comercializadora Jaral de Berrio, SA de CV, presents an inventory and appreciation of the assets that remained after the death of San Mateo of Valparaíso, Marquis of Jaral de Berrio, who died on November 23, 1779. In the index of this inventory appears in the number 31 stop the Memory of the Wines, Beers, Barrels and Empty Bottles, valued by Mr. Antonio de Arriaga. In this report, line number 13 specifies the existence of 60 bottles of Criole of Jaral Aguardiente.
This document is unique at a national level, because no other state with a designation of origin has anything similar. So why is the mezcal manufacturing process in Guanajuato lost? During the colonial period, as mentioned in the upper part of the document, it was a pagan drink and its production was prohibited, the Spaniards settled in Guanajuato, where many of the landowners had their small productions but trafficked with it.
Other important factors were the fights between pre-Hispanic and Spanish communities for not wanting to be conquered, the colonial era, the Mexican Revolution, the agrarian reform and many other events that occurred in Guanajuato, but Guanajuato currently has more than 6 haciendas in reconstruction by relatives of the old owners where mezcal was made, haciendas that helped to give the denomination of origin mezcal in San Felipe Torres Mochas and San Luis de la Paz, places where our tours go.
Mezcal!!!
There are 9 origin denominations for the manufacture of mezcal, Guanajuato, Durango, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Zacatecas. This is due to the influence they had, cocos wine - mezcal wine.
The mezcal is classified into three categories, Industrial, Craft, Ancestral, this is marked in the NOM 070, where the producers of mezcal are asked to place on their label, the classification, type of agave, DO zone, among others.
In the elaboration process we have several steps to follow:
Sowing in the field of the plant, there are plants that take from 7 to 30 years to mature depending on the state and the plant. For mezcal, more than 35 plant varieties are used.
Harvest the plant (pineapples), remove the leaves of the maguey to leave only the raw material that is going to be processed.
Cooking of the pineapples, depending on the state is the type of oven used, the most common are the ground conical and the masonry.
- Grinding, there is manual grinding, tahona (stone pulled by horse), heartbreaking (mechanical grinding)
Fermentation, it takes between 4 to 6 days depends on the characteristics of the area, temperature, yeast, microorganisms in the area and month of the year. (in this process is where the mezcal takes most of its tasting notes)
Distillation, copper still (artisan process), black clay pots (ancestral process), industrial (stainless steel rectifier)
After this there are the aged mezcal, here each of the producers gives his own touch.
Points for which the cost of mezcal is high:
Tax payment:
- 53 % IEPS
- 16 % IVA
- 2 a 3% CRM
Factory performance:
You get 1 liter of mezcal for every 7 kilos of plant. (sprat)
You get 1 liter of mezcal for every 30 kilos of plant. (salmiana) to name a few.
Type of plant, some take 30 years to mature (tepextate)
Type of manufacturing process.
Aging
