The family owned distillery behind Tapatio 100% Agave Blanco Tequila, “La Altena”, preferenced the promotion of another of their Tequilas,”El Tesoro” for overseas markets. Thankfully Carlos Camarena, La Altena’s chief distiller, finally succumbed to the pressure to release the Tapatio tequilas to faithfuls around the world. Some of these were no doubt introduced to its charms on a Mexican bender from Juarez to Tapachula. Many others probably fell in love with the drink from a single shot and became instant converts.
The long awaited arrival of Tapatio Tequila in Australia is a welcome one. From a production point of view, this is as traditional as you will get with 100% estate grown agave, brick ovens, wooden vats and copper stills. This makes La Altena one of the last bastions of old school tequila production, resulting in a drink of character rather than a mass produced commodity.
