Coming soonAgave tequilana Weber blue var.20°50′ N · 103°43′ WAgave angustifolia · espadínOaxaca, Mexico
Barranca de AmatitánNOM 1473Agave aged 7 to 12 yearsFlush-cut harvestEndemic fermentationWater from our own springsBlanco · Reposado · EspadínExtra Añejo · coming soonBarranca de AmatitánNOM 1473Agave aged 7 to 12 yearsFlush-cut harvestEndemic fermentationWater from our own springsBlanco · Reposado · EspadínExtra Añejo · coming soon
Manifesto
Some names are not used. They are honoured.
Mayahuel is the name the Nahua peoples gave to the goddess of the maguey. Long before it was a brand, it was a way of explaining how a desert plant could hold water, shade and nourishment.
Putting it on a bottle demands that things be done the way they were when that name mattered: agave that waited seven to twelve years, hearts harvested flush, yeasts born in the barranca, slow fire and the silence of oak.
That is why the line is short and kept without shortcuts: a Blanco, a Reposado, a Mezcal Espadín and an Extra Añejo that has not yet left the barrel. That is why nothing is announced in haste.
M.
The collection
A short line. A sacred name.
From the Barranca de Amatitán, a Blanco and a Reposado; in the barrel, an Extra Añejo not yet revealed. From Oaxaca, a Mezcal Espadín. Every bottle wears the goddess’s emblem at its neck: a serene face at the centre of a sun.
As the goddess wove her spirit into the earth, Mayahuel weaves a legacy that turns the earthly into the divine.
Words from the label · translated
The film
Three bottles, one name.
Blanco, Reposado and Mezcal Espadín: the Mayahuel line in fifteen seconds.
Tequila Reposado
What the barranca keeps by night, oak turns to gold.
The name
Ma·ya·huel
Pronounced ma-YA-wel. Nahuatl.
I
The maguey
The codices paint her seated on the plant, in the same blue as its leaves: goddess and maguey are one and the same.
400
The children
She nursed the Centzon Totochtin, the four hundred rabbits. To the Nahua, four hundred meant "beyond counting".
☾
The night
She fled the sky by night and by night she was overtaken. From what was buried, the first maguey grew.
Its etymology is debated; some read it as "she who surrounds the maguey". We tell it with respect, as a story that is not ours. On the emblem of every bottle she appears as a serene face at the centre of a sun: a tribute, not a costume.
The signs
Before it arrives, Mayahuel leaves signs.
Six images announced the arrival of Mayahuel before its bottles were shown.
I · FieldAgave aged 7 to 12 yearsHarvested once the plant has gathered all its sugar.
II · OvenSlow fireMasonry ovens; the hearts come out sweet and toasted.
III · TahonaBasalt stoneCrushes the cooked agave without tearing the fibre.
IV · FermentationYeasts of the barrancaOpen fermentation in wood, with endemic yeasts.
V · CopperDouble distillationCopper and steel, each at its stage.
VI · Cellar200-litre oak barrelsWhere the Reposado rests and the Extra Añejo waits.
Questions
What people ask
When does Mayahuel launch?
The launch date has not been announced yet. Those on the waiting list receive it first, together with the full sheet of each bottle.
Which bottles make up the line?
Tequila Blanco and Tequila Reposado, both 100% agave from the Barranca de Amatitán, and Mezcal Espadín from Oaxaca, all three 750 ml at 40% ABV. The Extra Añejo is coming soon: more than three years in 200-litre oak barrels.
Where is it made?
In the Barranca de Amatitán, Jalisco, at the distillery of Tequilera de la Barranca de Amatitán (NOM 1473), working the craft since 2000.
What is the flush cut, or "corte bola"?
It is how the agave is harvested: the jimador shaves every leaf flush against the heart with the coa until it is round and clean. Only the heart of the plant goes into the oven, without the green leaf bases that leave bitter notes.
What does endemic fermentation mean?
The yeasts that ferment the agave are not bought in: they live in the barranca, in the distillery's own microclimate. That is why this tequila's aroma belongs to that place and no other.
And the mezcal?
It is Mayahuel’s second house: Mezcal Espadín from Oaxaca, 100% agave, in a green glass bottle. The palenque and the master mezcalero will be announced soon.
What do pollinators have to do with the tequila?
The barranca is full of vegetation, and the bees, hummingbirds and bats that pollinate it carry wild yeasts from flower to flower. Because Mayahuel ferments in the open, in wooden vats, that ecosystem becomes part of the must and of its aroma.
Why is it called Mayahuel?
Mayahuel is the Nahua goddess of the maguey, the plant tequila is born from. Carrying her name means making it without haste.
Before the first bottle
From the vault to the shelf.
The cellar where the Reposado rests, and the three bottles of the house in the order they arrive.
Tulip glassService
Coming soon
The first batch is already resting.
Those who sign up will be the first to know the unveiling date, the full sheet of each bottle, where to find them and the day the Extra Añejo leaves the barrel. We send nothing else.
Tequila
Tequila
Mezcal
