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The crafting of María Bonita Mezcal begins with the cultivation of agave. The harvest takes place in diverse terrains, and the cultivation is carried out under organic farming practices, as no artificial products are used. Agave takes between 8 to 15 years to fully mature.
Our noble agaves are carefully harvested after a meticulous selection process in the mountainous regions of Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Guerrero.
Once the agave hearts (piñas) are harvested and selected according to their size, maturity, and yield, they are collected from different regions and transported to the palenque to begin the cooking process.
Cooking takes place in traditional stone masonry ovens, heated by steam injection, following a slow and careful process designed to preserve the best qualities of the raw material. The cooking process lasts approximately 72 hours (3 days), plus an additional 24 hours for cooling.
Once cooked, the agave hearts are crushed using a traditional stone tahona, which allows the extraction of a rich juice filled with the natural sugars of our agaves. Depending on the quantity of raw material, this stage may take between 16 to 36 hours.
The juice obtained from milling is transported through stone channels beneath the tahona into wooden fermentation vats, where it naturally ferments through the action of wild yeasts for around 96 hours (4 days).
Distillation is carried out in copper pot stills, carefully preserving the wide spectrum of flavors from the agave juice while crafting a well-balanced profile. This process usually takes between 24 to 30 hours.
To achieve the final character, each distillation batch is kept separate from cooking to distillation. It is then adjusted to a drinking strength of 40% Alc. Vol., and the blending is performed in proportions selected by our master blender.rs.
