SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.— With an impressive heritage and artisanal craftsmanship, Loco Tequila seeks to inspire and ignite the human spirit with the launch of the first-ever ultra-premium Terruño Tequila from the El Arenal region of Jalisco, Mexico. These terroir tequilas are made in small batches, utilizing traditional processes, and are harvested within a 2.5 miles radius of the historic hacienda in one of the most recognized and iconic tequila regions in the country. Loco Tequila is now available for the first-time ever in the United States, beginning in the San Francisco Bay Area. All three of Loco’s distinguished expressions, the Loco Blanco, Loco Ambar and the flagship Loco Puro Corazon, are now available for purchase through the website, Loco-Tequila.com, and via Reservebar.com in 34 states. Additionally, in celebration of Loco Tequila’s first holiday season in the US, a Limited Edition Loco Tequila Collection, which includes a 750ml bottle of each of Loco’s three expressions alongside a set of four complementary Riedel Loco Tequila tequila glasses, is being offered on both websites.
Loco Tequila is an homage to the great pioneers and visionaries throughout history; the geniuses and innovators who inspired generations because they were in search of the extraordinary, focused madly on the details, and wanted to create something incomparable in their field. When the team behind Loco Tequila set out to create the first Terruño Tequila, they chose the El Arenal region because it is the historical and geographical gateway to the “Paisaje Agavero,” a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Loco Tequila aims to bring back the art of tequila-making with uncompromising quality standards at every level in order to create a tequila that demonstrates the strength and character of the original essence of the agave, the way the true original spirit used to be crafted more than 200 years ago.
The Loco Tequila story is composed of the following main pillars: the locura, which is the celebration of the forward-thinkers who are often considered society’s crazy geniuses; the impeccable quality and purity of the product that honors heritage and melds tradition with innovation; the history and legacy that guide every aspect of Loco Tequila’s process; and the art, which is embedded in the uniqueness and beauty of the bottle, packaging, and inspiration for the product.
The team of friends and family who started Loco Tequila in Mexico more than 10 years ago, did so with the goal of making an artisanal beverage unlike any other from their country. When the co-founders Gabriel Roqueñí and Pedro Padilla began to do things differently with Loco Tequila, many in the industry thought they were crazy. “Not only were we starting an ambitious project in a very complex market, but we were seeking to do it without compromising quality on any level” says Juan-Pablo Torres-Padilla, Managing Partner of Loco Tequila in the USA. “But we continued with the certainty that this madness would lead us to achieve something out of the ordinary.”
From the beginning, Loco Tequila has aimed to recover the artisanal processes that were used in El Arenal and maintain tradition throughout the process. For this, the team sought out agave expert José Antonio Sánchez López “Toni”, who has inherited a multi-generational family knowledge in El Arenal, Jalisco, to understand the terruño, the agave’s growth, and to discern their optimum point of maturity. Toni spends much of the day walking through the fields of agave azul for which he is responsible, and manually selects, one by one, the plants that are going to be used for the production of Loco Tequila.
Loco Tequila owns and/or controls its own plantations, which means that the team can guarantee the highest quality agave that is sourced within a two-mile radius of El Arenal. Drawing on the rich pre-Columbian heritage of the terroir, the Loco Tequila team is inspired by Los Guachimontones, the unusual 2,000-year-old conical pyramid structures found in the area of the Valleys of Tequila. The ancestral practice of circular planting and double-separation planting aids in avoiding soil erosion and ensures a nutrient rich soil. They also use only the purest water from the well located inside the Hacienda La Providencia and derived from the Bosque de la Primavera. The water undergoes a natural and lengthy process underground in which it is purified and imbued with undertones of limestone, minerality and volcanic rock.
Once the seven- to eight-year-old agaves are hand-selected, they go through a double Jima or shaving process — unlike most other tequilas on the market that only do it once — and then they are taken to a masonry oven to continue the traditional craftsmanship of this emblematic liquid. After almost three days in the ovens, the cooked piñas are taken to the Tahona, an ancient grinding stone, weighing approximately two tons, which slowly macerates the piñas to obtain the agave juice. It is then fermented in 100 year old wooden pipones rescued from the old production facilities from Hacienda La Providencia, and along with native yeasts to provide character in the fermentation while transforming the sugars into alcohol. Finally, the double distillation is carried out in small copper stills that ensure the highest levels of purity, while the size allows greater control in obtaining the purest essence of the agave. Once each batch is finished, the entire process begins anew.
Alberto Navarro, Loco Tequila’s Maestro Tequilero, believes that in order to distinguish Loco’s tequilas from other high-quality spirits, the key is transparency and traceability. “The essence of Loco represents the essence of agaves, not oak or any other added flavors,” he says. “But, for this drink to become the artistic expression we know, the intervention of man is needed and it is in this careful process that lies – to a large extent -– the difference between a good tequila and an exceptional one.”
Loco Tequila is dedicated to keeping the 18th century traditions and ancestral knowledge of tequila-making alive when they otherwise might be lost in time. Loco Tequila’s home is the legendary Hacienda La Providencia, in the Valle del Arenal, Jalisco, which is the gateway to the “Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila,” declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Jalisco’s tequila region was the cornerstone of the classification of the Denomination of Origin in 1974. La Providencia has been recognized as a part of the Ancient Industrial Installation of Tequila by UNESCO, honoring its centuries of tradition and ancestral knowledge in its production of tequila. With a lineage of more than 200 years, La Providencia’s agave plantations produce plants that result in an incomparable and rare tequila of significant heritage from the original birthplace of tequila production.
Loco Tequila focuses wildly on the details, from the harvesting of the agaves, to the production of the tequila, to the creation of a unique bottle for each tequila by the artist Jan Hendrix. A Mexican Dutch-born nature lover, Jan takes inspiration from the origin of agaves as his main element in creating the bottles and packaging in an artistic way. He also uses Cochineal Red and Silver in the logo and packaging because they are meaningful and emblematic colors in Mexican history and intimately linked to the culture. Cochineal Red, for example, comes from a small insect that produces a brilliant red pigment. Found in textiles, paintings, cosmetics, and many other objects that span the globe, cochineal pigment was used in Mexico long before the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, and after being introduced to Europe, it quickly became a precious commodity and control over its global trade was a source of conflict and competition for over three centuries.
All three of Loco’s distinguished bottles, Loco Puro Corazon, Loco Ambar, and Loco Blanco, are now available for purchase through the website, www.Loco-Tequila.com, and at www.ReserveBar.com. The crown jewel of the Loco family is the Loco Puro Corazon, which is made of the purest essence of the agave, separated drop by drop. This tequila is rare and each 750 mL bottle is numbered and delivered in a unique case designed by the artist Jan Hendrix. It is distinguished by its transparency, purity and clarity. The smell is extremely fresh with notes of mint and eucalyptus followed by distinctive notes of cooked agave and piloncillo and pumpkin. The flavor is light and harmonious, well-balanced with sweet notes of agave and almost saline minerality.
About Loco Tequila
Loco Tequila has the distinction of being the first and only ultra-premium brand established as a Terruño Tequila from the famous El Arenal region of Jalisco, Mexico.. Loco Tequila was launched in Mexico in 2019, and has since been the fastest growing ultra-premium tequila brand in Mexico. Available expressions are Loco Blanco, Loco Ambar (Reposado), and Loco Puro Corazon. Our mission is to promote the art of celebrating life by creating a better present and future, proudly carrying the culture of Mexico through its history, legacy, craftsmanship, art and innovative spirit with an exceptional tequila.
For More Information:
https://loco-tequila.com/