Centinela Tequila Añejo

About Tequila Centinela

Tequila Centinela was the first distillery to be located in Arandas, Jalisco. Established in 1904, Centinela translates: “the one to watch and keep.” The agave used in production takes 8 years to mature and are harvested from the agave fields of Centinela. Their jimadors are hired full time and are trained to cut the pencas extremely close to the piña to root out the bitter flavors. Centinela also buys 20% from local producers to help the region’s economy.

The agave is slow cooked with steam using clay ovens (as opposed to stainless steel), for 24 hours, imparting a distinctly smoky flavor, and sweet aftertaste. By the first 4 hours by sheer gravity, a liquid is extracted from the desert succulent. This fluid is discarded to eliminate impurities and “the amargo” (the bitter). After the agave are cooked, they are cooled for a day. They are then extracted and ground with two mills, each with equipped with five press. The agave fibers are gently washed and crushed, in order to keep the fibers in tact, to prevent the release of bitter flavors.

The juice that is then extracted is called “Aguamiel,” or honey water, which is extremely sweet. This high sugar content is what is needed to create alcohol in the fermentation process. The yeast used is natural and comes from a controlled environment. It takes three to five days for the yeast to convert the sugars into alcohol.

Centinel twice distill their tequila. The first step of distillation “destrozamiento” takes 5 hours, and the “heads and tails” (colas y cabezas) of the distillate leave the “heart” or “ordinario.” The Second distillation or “rectification” takes a lengthy 10 hours, during which, the heads and tails are removed once more, revealing the purest heart of the tequila.