La Venenosa Raicilla Etnica Tutsi

La Venenosa Raicilla Etnica Tutsi comes from the Huichol people of northwest Jalisco, who know this spirit locally as Tutsi rather than raicilla. The drink had been lost for around 25 years, and La Venenosa is currently the only producer making it, working with maestro tabernero Don Rafael Carrillo Pizano in Tatei Kie, La Guayaba. It is made entirely from wild Masparillo agave.

The agave is roasted in an underground wood fired oven, then crushed by hand with wooden sticks before natural fermentation in a rock pit and a single distillation in a Huichol still. Production is tiny, just two or three batches of 45 litres a year. The nose carries citrus, tropical fruit and berries with earthy, forest notes of pine and cedar, while the palate weaves fruit and cedar through earthy, vegetal and subtly smoky tones with a creamy sweetness. Bottled joven at 45.5%.