top of page
sierrudo+toba.png
sierrudo+tobasiche-cutout.png

elements table

ATE_process.png

Maestro Mezcaleros
Luis Arellanes Cruz + Rufino Felipe Martinez

luis arellanes cruz

In the zone of Santa Catarina Minas Oaxaca, you will find the Arellanes Family crafting up some very high quality & experimental distillates. The family business is ran by Maestro Mezcalero Luis Arellanes Cruz alongside his Uncle Rufino who is a 3rd generation master and very respected man in the area.

Agave:

In Luis & Rufinos' 2 agave ensemble, the master distillers began by harvesting mature agave Sierrudo (a. americana), a  varietal that takes 5 to 8 years to develop as  well as a Tobasiche (a. Karwinskii) which can take 8-20yrs to mature. 

earthoven.HEIC

Roast:

After shaving the agave hearts to its core, Luis & Rufino roasted them below ground in an earthen oven for 8-10 days. The oven was fueled by mesquite wood, atop volcanic rocks & covered with soil.

fermentation-w_luis.HEIC

Milling and Fermentation:

Don Rufino & Luis mills the cooked agave by hand using large wooden mallets. The duo & team then ferments the  crushed agave with local spring water in cypress wood vats which could take anywhere from 3-5 days to reach the desired sugar content. 

Distillation:

Luneta's Sierrudo + Tobasiche was distilled two times in a clay pot still heated over a carefully tended fire. 

Cut:

The hearts, heads and tails are then mix to yield a balanced blend of 49.1% abv.

bottom of page