Estancia Raicilla

Rio Chenery, an Australian-born Mexican, moved to Mexico in 2014 to be reunited with his mother and to launch Estancia Distillery, named after the town in which it is based, La Estancia de Landeros in Jalisco province, to make his family’s favourite drink – raicilla. With a 400 year history, Mexico’s ‘other’ agave spirit, is known by some as Mexico’s native gin, given its pronounced floral and fruity aromatic character that makes it distinct from better-known Tequila and smoky mezcal.

Estancia harvest their Maximiliana – or Lechuguilla – agave plants at 6 to 8 years of age, grown in the highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The agave piñas are roasted in an adobe oven for 2 days before indigenous yeast fermentation in open oak barrels. Double-distillation in copper pot stills follows to create this premium, aromatic raicilla.