Meet the vinatero from April 2022 Miguel Órtiz Villagomez. A. inaequidens, also known as alto, bruto or criollo, depending where you are and who you ask, is widely used around Michoacán. It is known for its long pencas (leaves) that can be up to 60 cms long and the agave itself can reach a diameter of 12 feet. All of these according to the biology UNAM website (biologia.fciencias.unam.mx) that has a precise description of it and even suggests a name that we haven’t found in the field: “Hocimetl”. The agave takes anywhere between 8 and 14 years to mature and it is known to love, tobalá style, sharp-difficult hills to grow. There are plenty of stories about Miguel using his rappel-like skills to harvest this gravity-defying agave.
