| Fortaleza Añejo - Lot #4 |
Tequila Joe's Collection |
| NOM: 1493 Distillery: Tequila Los Abuelos, S.A. de C.V. Importer: American Wine Distributors, Inc. Area: Lowlands Aged: 2-3 Years Barrel Type: Used American Oak Bottle Size: 750ml Bottle Number: 4,615 Number of Distillations: 2 Alcohol Percentage: 40%/80 Proof Price: $83 Current Website: http://www.losabuelos.com/ |
My Tasting Notes: I tried this tequila at the Grad in Davis, CA and tasted it in a
snifter glass. With a pale yellow golden color, this tequila has intense floral aromas.
Other aromas include moderate-to-intense fruit with mild spice that is followed by hints
of earth and vanilla. The tequila has a medium mouth feel and on the first sip has a
low level of sweetness with a hint of bitterness. Intense flavors of floral and agave
with moderate fruit and wood are followed by mild earth, spice, caramel, and smoke.
With a long duration of flavor, hints of vanilla bring this tequila to a numbing finish.
Info on the Back of the Bottle: "Produced and bottled on our family estate
located in Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, using the traditional process started by my
"tatarabuelo" (Great-Great Grandfather) over 125 years ago.
-Guillermo E. Sauza
"La Quinta Generacion"
Other Info: In late 2008, I began seeing Fortaleza Lot #4 on liquor store shelves.
Here is more information about the brand:
"Guillermo Erickson Sauza, a fifth-generation family member, produces Los Abuelos
Tequila, using traditional techniques.
Tequila Los Abuelos proudly announces that their artisan hand-crafted, stone crushed
tequila is now available in the U.S.A., under the new label name, Fortaleza.
At Tequila LOS ABUELOS, we are committed to producing the finest Tequila possible.
Our Tequila is made using traditions established centuries ago, from 100% stone milled
agave, entirely produced on our estate. We are located in the town of Tequila, Jalisco,
Mexico, first populated in the 1530’s by our Spanish forefathers. Our land is nestled in
rich valley at 4,000 feet of altitude, in the foothills of the 9,560-foot tall, Volcan de
Tequila.
Here is where our blue agaves grow for seven to eight years, caressed with the
warmth of the Mexican sun, nourished by the summer rains, and protected from the
harsh and cold winter winds.
Visit us and you will feel like you stepped back in time……to the days in 1856 when Don
Cenobio, my Great-Great Grandfather, in Spanish called “Tatarabuelo,” arrived in the
town of Tequila. Don Cenobio, the first to export Tequila to the United States in 1860’s,
started his own brand in 1870’s. His son Don Eladio, my Great-Grandfather or
“Bisabuelo,” continued the tradition of making tequila until his death where he passed
the tradition to his son, Don Javier, my Grandfather or “Abuelo.” My Abuelo built the
business to become the number one tequila producer in the world and then he sold it
to Pedro Domecq Mexico in 1976.
Fortunately, my Abuelo, left us with our lands and a small distillery named “LA
FORTALEZA,” which means Fortitiude. It was built over a century ago, and was shut
down and turned into a tourist museum in 1968 because its traditional process was
too “inefficient.” In 1999, we decided to restore our old distillery to produce the finest
tequila, using long abandoned, artisan methodology. In 2002, after 34 years as a
tourist museum, LA FORTALEZA distilled its first liter of our authentic handcrafted
Tequila!
We chose the name LOS ABUELOS for our extraordinary tequila to honor the memory of
my Abuelo, Bisabuelo and Tatarabuelo, The Grandfathers! Our Tequila is produced
entirely within the walls of our estate, using centuries old, traditional methods, which
although are very labor intensive, create a tequila, which is unequaled in taste and
smoothness. Using the age-old brick oven, with its meter thick walls, we cook our
agave for thirty six hours. Then we crush or mill the agave as my Tartarabuelo did over
135 years ago in the stone mill called the Tahona. The crushed agave is then washed
with the pure mountain water from the Volcan de Tequila to separate the pulp from the
woody fibers to create an agave juice called mosto The woody fibers of the agave,
called bagazo, are removed at this time, and taken to the fields to use as compost. The
agave mosto is then naturally fermented for five days in small wood vats, and then
double distilled using small, labor-intensive copper pot stills. Our glass bottle is hand-
blown in Tonala, Jalisco by artisan glassmakers and our bottle tops, artisan designed
to represent the harvest agave, or Pina, are hand-made by our workers.
We produce three types of our tequila all made from only 100% estate grown “blue”
Agave tequilana Weber." -Tequila Source
snifter glass. With a pale yellow golden color, this tequila has intense floral aromas.
Other aromas include moderate-to-intense fruit with mild spice that is followed by hints
of earth and vanilla. The tequila has a medium mouth feel and on the first sip has a
low level of sweetness with a hint of bitterness. Intense flavors of floral and agave
with moderate fruit and wood are followed by mild earth, spice, caramel, and smoke.
With a long duration of flavor, hints of vanilla bring this tequila to a numbing finish.
Info on the Back of the Bottle: "Produced and bottled on our family estate
located in Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, using the traditional process started by my
"tatarabuelo" (Great-Great Grandfather) over 125 years ago.
-Guillermo E. Sauza
"La Quinta Generacion"
Other Info: In late 2008, I began seeing Fortaleza Lot #4 on liquor store shelves.
Here is more information about the brand:
"Guillermo Erickson Sauza, a fifth-generation family member, produces Los Abuelos
Tequila, using traditional techniques.
Tequila Los Abuelos proudly announces that their artisan hand-crafted, stone crushed
tequila is now available in the U.S.A., under the new label name, Fortaleza.
At Tequila LOS ABUELOS, we are committed to producing the finest Tequila possible.
Our Tequila is made using traditions established centuries ago, from 100% stone milled
agave, entirely produced on our estate. We are located in the town of Tequila, Jalisco,
Mexico, first populated in the 1530’s by our Spanish forefathers. Our land is nestled in
rich valley at 4,000 feet of altitude, in the foothills of the 9,560-foot tall, Volcan de
Tequila.
Here is where our blue agaves grow for seven to eight years, caressed with the
warmth of the Mexican sun, nourished by the summer rains, and protected from the
harsh and cold winter winds.
Visit us and you will feel like you stepped back in time……to the days in 1856 when Don
Cenobio, my Great-Great Grandfather, in Spanish called “Tatarabuelo,” arrived in the
town of Tequila. Don Cenobio, the first to export Tequila to the United States in 1860’s,
started his own brand in 1870’s. His son Don Eladio, my Great-Grandfather or
“Bisabuelo,” continued the tradition of making tequila until his death where he passed
the tradition to his son, Don Javier, my Grandfather or “Abuelo.” My Abuelo built the
business to become the number one tequila producer in the world and then he sold it
to Pedro Domecq Mexico in 1976.
Fortunately, my Abuelo, left us with our lands and a small distillery named “LA
FORTALEZA,” which means Fortitiude. It was built over a century ago, and was shut
down and turned into a tourist museum in 1968 because its traditional process was
too “inefficient.” In 1999, we decided to restore our old distillery to produce the finest
tequila, using long abandoned, artisan methodology. In 2002, after 34 years as a
tourist museum, LA FORTALEZA distilled its first liter of our authentic handcrafted
Tequila!
We chose the name LOS ABUELOS for our extraordinary tequila to honor the memory of
my Abuelo, Bisabuelo and Tatarabuelo, The Grandfathers! Our Tequila is produced
entirely within the walls of our estate, using centuries old, traditional methods, which
although are very labor intensive, create a tequila, which is unequaled in taste and
smoothness. Using the age-old brick oven, with its meter thick walls, we cook our
agave for thirty six hours. Then we crush or mill the agave as my Tartarabuelo did over
135 years ago in the stone mill called the Tahona. The crushed agave is then washed
with the pure mountain water from the Volcan de Tequila to separate the pulp from the
woody fibers to create an agave juice called mosto The woody fibers of the agave,
called bagazo, are removed at this time, and taken to the fields to use as compost. The
agave mosto is then naturally fermented for five days in small wood vats, and then
double distilled using small, labor-intensive copper pot stills. Our glass bottle is hand-
blown in Tonala, Jalisco by artisan glassmakers and our bottle tops, artisan designed
to represent the harvest agave, or Pina, are hand-made by our workers.
We produce three types of our tequila all made from only 100% estate grown “blue”
Agave tequilana Weber." -Tequila Source
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