Spirit Type: Blanco

Proof: 80 proof

Agave: Estate Grown Tequilana Weber

NOM: Nom. 1109

Cooking: Autoclave

Tasting Notes: A mineral and light smoke open up a fruity nose. This leads to a sweet and vegetal palate. The palate is complex as I continue to revisit the glass. There are notes of citrus that shine through. This compliments the nose with additional earthy and briny notes. All of this leads to a sweet and grassy finish.

About: If you visit the CRT (Consejo Regulador del Tequila) lobby in the headquarters building in Guadalajara, they have 4 statues. Juan Beckman from Cuervo Tequila, Javier Sauza from Sauza Tequila, Eduardo Orendain and Gabriela de la Peña from Herradura Tequila. These families are all immortalized, and known as the 'Tequila Founding Families', which are the four oldest families who started making tequila. According to Eduardo Jr "out of those four, we are the only ones left, that remain 100% independently family owned." The respect continues as Don Javier, the loved bar owner of La Capilla and creator of the Batanga drink, has the name 'Orendain' written on the side of his building, simply as a sign of love and support to the family.

Don Eduardo moved Orendain Tequila to a new larger facility and abandoned El Llano in 1960, but Eduardo Sr and brother Jaime Orendain rebuilt it in 1978, and returned to the original building where the family history of Tequila production began in the early 1900's. Tequila Arette was born in 1986, named after the champion Mexican horse- 'Arete', which won the first Gold Medal for Mexico in the 1948 London Olympics. The Arette brand is a small batch production and all agaves are estate-grown.

The Orendain family have very deep roots in the Valley of Tequila. Don Eduardo himself is the former mayor of the town of Tequila and is the current president of the CNIT. To create Arette, Eduardo and Jaime Orendain returned to El Llano distillery, the original building where the family history of Tequila production began in the early 1900s. El Llano was rebuilt in 1978 and Tequila Arette was born in 1986. These estate-bottled 100% de Agave Tequilas are a combination of heritage, craft and value.