La Venenosa Raicilla Tabernas Reposado

La Venenosa Tabernas Reposado is a raicilla from Jalisco, the western Mexican agave spirit that earned its denomination of origin in 2019 after a long clandestine history. The brand, founded by chef and agronomist Esteban Morales, sources from individual taberneros, and this bottling comes from the Salcedo Rios family, where Benito tends the agave from seed to plantation while his brother Jose runs the taberna, the cooking, fermentation, distillation and now the maturation.
The spirit is double distilled in stainless steel and then taken somewhere unusual for raicilla, three months in Oloroso sherry casks to build a reposado, a rare move in a category that is almost always bottled unaged. Made from Maximiliana, a Sierra marker, alongside chico aguiar, it shows fresh wood, citrus and herbs on the nose, with red apple, cinnamon and earthy tones over a smoky, dry frame and intense agave through the palate. Bottled at 45.5 percent.