Agave Spirits Fans Can Branch Out With Raicilla in Mexico

As all things agave continue rapid growth in popularity across the United States, one category primed to have an emergence is raicilla. The agave spirit falls into the mezcal family, though isn’t labeled as such, and hails from the state of Jalisco. Raicilla is primarily made in Jalisco’s westernmost reaches, up in the rural mountains and down along its coast, with each area showcasing distinctive enough production to represent what could truly be two categories: coastal raicilla and mountain raicilla.

“People think raicilla is one thing, but there are two different traditions, styles of distillation, and also different types of agave used, and it shows you the complexity,” says Arturo Dávila, founder of Atarraya, a raicilla bottler who sources from about half a dozen small producers.

Exploring how de la costa (“of the coast”) raicilla and de la sierra (“of the mountains”) raicilla are different provides a proper education for the category as a whole.

Coastal raicilla vs. mountain raicilla

While Dávila is actively engaged in selling raicilla, the drink is more of a means to an end: sharing a piece of Mexican culture. “I’m interested in the cultural perspective of raicilla, not the alcohol,” he says.

He is leading me through a tasting workshop held at Naviva, a Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita, Mexico, as one of the local insiders that the hotel tabbed to produce in-depth agave educational programming. This includes its Road to Raicilla excursions that bring guests to visit raicilla producers. Even if Dávila is interested in culture more than alcohol, a tasting across his lineup offers a tantalizing spectrum ranging from mineral to peppery and phenolic, and from green and herbal to funky with ripe tropical fruits.

For Dávila, coastal raicilla is a direct example of how Mexico’s Pacific coast served as a trade link between Asia and Europe. “Mexico has more Asian influence than people know, and raicilla is an example, as the system of distillation is Filipino,” Dávila says.

Traditional distillation for coastal raicilla uses wooden stills and a double distillation process, with agave replacing what would have been coconut sap. Mountain raicilla is single distilled using clay stills, the type of which would be familiar for those who have visited ancestral mezcal producers in Oaxaca.

Coastal raicilla producers use underground pits to cook agave, versus above-ground ovens in the mountains, and the type of agave used is different as well. “In the mountains it’s basically Agave maximiliana, and in the coast it’s basically Agave angustifolia and rhodacantha,” says Pedro Jiménez, founder of Mezonte, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and supporting traditional agave spirits and the people who make them. “You might find other species and varieties but those are the main ones.”

Technical differences in production reflect longstanding cultural traditions. “The thing that makes raicilla different is the culture and the landscape where it is produced, not even the agaves,” Jiménez says. “How people interact in the communities to produce raicilla and how families join to be part of what they’ve learned from generations.”

The race to sell as much tequila — also from Jalisco — as possible squashed a piece of raicilla’s legacy, as every agave under the sun was harvested for cheap mass production efforts. “People lost their connection to raicilla in the mid-20th century and stopped producing it, and sometimes people lost its cultural perspective,” Dávila says.

It’s the local families and the small producers who lost the most. “The people who know the least about raicilla are the local ones, which is what always happens, because they haven’t been taught to understand its significance and value,” Dávila says. “When you understand something, that value changes and increases.”

That’s why Dávila centers community and culture first and foremost with Atarraya. “The thing with raicilla and mezcal, you never learn about the producer,” he says. “You see these beautiful, sophisticated brands, but you never see the people who did it. We want to show their faces, and their name is right next to the brand name, it’s symbolic.”

While raicilla received Denomination of Origin (D.O.) status in 2019, it wasn’t unanimously celebrated. “It’s a huge topic and very controversial, but long story short, it’s the same structure made to sell tequila and mezcal,” Jiménez says, rather than a system whose primary function is to properly represent and protect a traditional product.

There’s also the matter of just how broad the schism is between raicilla’s two styles. “If you have different traditions, then why have the same name?” Dávila wonders.

Regardless of how a spirit may be labeled, consumers are encouraged to look a bit deeper at the world of agave on the whole. “It’s a matter of understanding the link there is between biological and cultural diversity; don’t be tricked by marketing tools and other discourses,” Jiménez says.

Instead, take a cue from the likes of Dávila before your next sip. “What I love about raicilla is that the people who make it are like artists, the product reflects the hand of the master,” Dávila says. “How important is the knowledge of these people?”

Priceless. Here’s how to get a taste for yourself.

How to try Raicilla in Mexico

Take the Road to Raicilla

Naviva launched two versions of its Road to Racilla this year. The Coastal Road takes guests on a boat across Banderas Bay with education about local flora and fauna along the way, while the Mountain Road includes transportation into the highlands of Jalisco. Each includes local meals and opportunities for one-on-one tours and tastings. These are not trips to the glamorous visitor centers of Kentucky bourbon country or Napa Valley, but rather paths deep off the tourist trail for in-depth experiences benefiting the local community.

Pull up a stool at Mezonte in Guadalajara

Mezonte’s home in Guadalajara is one part tasting room, one part education center, and a 100% must-visit for agave aficionados and beginners alike. In terms of raicilla, Mezonte sources from nine coastal producers on an ongoing basis, plus a handful from the mountains that produce smaller or sporadic batches. “The more raicilla you can try, the better,” Jiménez says.

Take a tour with Benomade

Dávila’s multi-pronged approach to sharing the richness of Mexican heritage included the launch of Benomade, a cultural tourism operator. “For me it’s very important to work with tourism that gives you the time to understand things,” he says. Benomade hosts a range of special events and offers private tours focused on topics such as raicilla production.

Visit Chiro Taberna in Puerto Vallarta

Chiro Taberna is a bar named for the small canoes that producers would use to bring their raicilla up to Puerto Vallarta and the Nayarit region. The bar, another initiative from Dávila, is located in the Versalles neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta and serves Atarraya raicilla, a lineup of classic cocktails made with raicilla, and a range of agave distillates from producers they want to showcase and share.