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Although the spirits industry as a whole is in a difficult moment, one category that has shown some growth is tequila in particular. There are plenty of brands to choose from these days, ranging from celebrity-backed ventures to those made using more traditional production methods (and most are additive-free, even if they’re not allowed to be labeled as such). Then there is the small but growing group of tequila brands focused on highlighting the influence of terroir on taste, and one of the leaders in this world is Tequila Ocho, which has just announced the launch of an exciting new series.
Tequila Ocho was founded in 2008 as a partnership between maestro tequilaro Carlos Camarena and longtime tequila ambassador Tomás Estes. Camarena is a familiar name in the wine world: he’s also behind brands like Tequila Tapitio and El Tesoro (his sister Jenny is now master distiller for the latter). Ocho bills itself as “the world’s first single estate tequila,” meaning it releases different vintage expressions that are hand-squeezed from agave grown in the highlands of Jalisco in an effort to show how the flavor varies based on the agave’s origin.
Today, Ocho announced that it is launching a new tequila series called Terroir Select, which features different vintages distilled from agave grown in the same regions but harvested from more than one field in the highlands, particularly in Jalisco, Guanajuato and Michoacán. The first release is called Comondad, and it’s distilled from agave grown by family farmers in El Nascimento de Abajo in Arandas, Jalisco. Two expressions will be released, Plata (or Blanco) and Reposado, each bottled at 80 proof.
According to Camarena, the motivation behind Terroir Select had two main drivers. “First, it enables us to support small agave growers who share a commitment to growing only the best agave in the best land Mexico has to offer,” he said in a statement. “Hence the name of the first release, Comunidad, which translates to ‘community’ in English. Second, it allows us to discover the influence of the terroir of other regions in Mexico which helps to deepen the role of the terroir in the cultivation of the blue Weber agave and, in turn, its role from these agaves.
The first two Terroir Select expressions will be available at select retailers later this month. And you can look for more from this new lineup, as well as the ongoing release of Ocho’s single-state teacups over the coming year. You can find many of these tequilas available for purchase now on websites like Reservoir.
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