Sonora

A massive, rarely explored, spirits paradise.

If you’ve been following Maguey Melate for a good while, you’ll know that in the last few years we’ve tried to represent the full diversity of spirits around Mexico. We try, as much as we can, to delve into every desert, forest, and mountain to spend time with the spirits that struggle to find a larger audience. This mindset is precisely what got us to Sonora.

Unlike the south of Mexico, the North tends to be significantly less touristy (except for Tijuana, Baja and Los Cabos), more industrial, and culturally opaque. Unlike places like Puebla, Michoacán, or Oaxaca, where you may be lucky enough to find a local expert who can take you on an introductory distilleries tour, in the North you are usually on your own, researching and knocking on doors from scratch. For a few years now, we have been very interested in Sonora and its Bacanora, which, to our knowledge, is the smallest Denomination of Origin in the agave context (legally, you can only use the term “Bacanora” on your label if you produced it one of the 35 recognized towns within Sonora). But where to start? At some point, we thought about touring the 35 municipalities, wishing for the best of luck.

Bacanora hits the city

Happily, more and more Bacanora started reaching Mexico City. We began to train our palates on this specific flavor profile and encountered people who could help us crack this nut, such as Javier Oroz, owner of the brand Santo Cuviso.  He is one of the most active promoters of Bacanora and claims to write at least two cold emails every day, trying to convince bars worldwide to stock a bit of the Sonoran spirit. Once I asked him:

• And if they only order a bottle?
• I’ll send one lonely bottle all the way to Japan if needed.

This fabulously stubborn gentleman opened us the doors to his ranch  (joven Dalton almost died of joy riding a very jumpy horse), embarked with us in a proper road trip around Sonora and introduced us to Rumaldo Flores, who is this month’s maestro for Maguey Melate.

We know we haven’t fully explained the story and origins of Bacanora. But that is quite a long story that you can find in this extended episode that we recorded with Javier. Instead of writing that whole history lesson, we would prefer to focus on what we saw firsthand when we arrived in this town that eats and breaths Bacanora. First of all, we were told that this was not a town where you should arrive unannounced (if you know what that means), so Rumaldo was kind enough to give us a ride. Just one hour away from Ciudad Obregón, this town is tucked in the middle of green mountains, which Rumaldo explained were critical for the survival of Bacanora. Back in the day, its production was prosecuted and people often had to take their tools and take cover deep into the mountain. Guerrilla tactics at its best. This prohibition lasted until 1992; finally, the DO was granted in 2000. As much as we may have our doubts about the influence of DOs, in this case it made a huge difference. The government started celebrating the “Maestros” as protectors of a heritage, instead of prosecuting them as criminals.

Finding the Bacanora

Rumaldo was incredibly generous, and he took us around the whole town, tasting Bacanora after Bacanora. We tried a special edition bottle made for a quinceañera party, indulged in some wonderful punts while eating some of the best beans-and-cheese tacos spiced with freshly milled “chiltepin” (a local chile that is a work of art), and finally, we tried Rumaldo’s spirits sitting by his alembic (aka “tren”).  

After a full day of tasting a wide range of Bacanoras, it was clear that Rumaldo had the most accurate spirit: it tasted and smelled like the Rosario Tesopaco. Maybe this is a consequence of his expertise and his deep understanding of the agaves in this region. These agaves are considered to be A. angustifolia pacifica, close to what we call “Espadín” in Oaxaca. But Rumaldo noted that due to the soil type and the extreme hydric stress that these agaves have to endure, they had their very own identity.

To sum up, we decided to do this box to introduce Bacanora to your palates and imaginations. The North is still full of surprises, and we are thrilled to bring you every piece of beauty we find in the deserts and forests of this region. We hope you enjoy it!

Follow along throughout the month on facebook or instagram to get all the videos, fun facts, and conversations about this month’s feature. Some topics to look forward to include:

• Learn more about how Bacanora’s production was criminalized and the child-memories that Rumaldo has from those times.
• Specifics about the genetics of the agaves in Sonora and how they are critical to this spirit’s unique fingerprint.
• The story behind the “tren”, a condenser system that is “endemic” to Sonora.

Quote of the Month

“When I was a kid my  father would arrive with the barrels full of Bacanora at night. They would bury them in the kitchen, and I had to spray water on top to erase any trace that suggested the dirt had been disturbed. That is how we hid the Bacanora in the prohibition days.” 

~ Rumaldo Flores Amarillas