Inside NOM 1675: The Different Side of Tequila at Casa Tequilera Joselito

[00:00:00] We talk a lot about tequila from the highlands and tequila from the Valley. But on this trip, Tony and I were headed somewhere completely different. We left Guadalajara. We made the drive around Lake Chapala to Tezepan, El Alto, Jalisco to visit Casa Taqueria Joselito NOM 1675, the home of Bermuda. [00:00:19] And I'd already spent some time talking with master distiller Oswaldo Gonzalez about what they're doing here. We've had him on the show, he's explaining, explained their process, and this time we got the opportunity to actually visit the distillery, walk through the production process, meet the people, and experience the place ourselves. And before anything else, I want to say thank you to Oswaldo and the entire Gonzalez family and the entire team at the distillery. They opened the doors for Tony and I to see everything, allowing us to spend time with them and walk through and learn how they make this tequila. These experiences make traveling to Jalisco so special. [00:00:54] So before we even get into the distillery, you have to understand the location is a huge part of Bermuda's story. We're near Lake Chapala in a completely different environment from the tequila regions that most of us talk about. The Gonzalez family connection to the area goes back generations, and today Oswaldo is trying to make a tequila that represents where he comes from. Once we arrived, we got to see how they're doing it. Obviously, the tequila starts at Blue Abe, but this agave is grown in a different region with different plants, different soil, and a completely different environment. After we've seen the environment, we start production with these hornos, these traditionally masonry ovens, where the agave is slowly cooked, converting all of those complex carbohydrates into fermentable sugars. Those are what's needed to eventually make tequila. Now, this is one of my favorite parts of visiting a working distillery. You can open up an oven set, see the cooked agave there, and you can smell it, touch it, and taste it. That's something a production sheet can never give you. From there, we follow that cooked agave over to their roller mill. That's where those sugars are extracted. You'll see in the video, they have a really nice roller mill, and they also have a tohona setup that they'll soon be using to make different tequilas from this distillery. The next thing we came across and saw was the fermentation area. They're fermenting in these stainless steel tanks that are actually set down in the ground. They're working with just spontaneous fermentation and wild yeast from this environment. And that's where Oswaldo talks about the terroir of Lake Chapala. This is part of what he's talking about. Not just simply where the agave grows, but the entire environment surrounding the production. Then we move from there over to distillation. And there you'll see it's double distilled in these really awesome copper pot stills. Standing here, you really start connecting the pieces of agave. Cooking extraction, fermentation, and then finally distillation. Now there's another part we got to visit that was really cool. As we're heading to the barrel room, you'll actually see there's a spirit here, a statue that is guarding the safety of not only the people that work in the distillery, but the distillery itself. It was pretty neat to see that they bring so much of their spirituality into the distillery. You head down these amazing stairs and you walk into this barrel room. And what I don't show you in the video is their water source is literally right next to us as we go into the room. And the water is such a huge part of tequila. And seeing that connection firsthand really drove home another part of what he talks about, the influence surrounding the lake. Then, of course, you get to see all of these barrels aging, tequila around it. I was really interested to see their take on aged expressions because it's something with tequila that has its own sense place. The challenge is using barrels to add complexity without losing what made tequila interested in the first place. But here's what I probably enjoyed the most about these visits. It's not just seeing the equipment. It's spending time with the people, asking questions, tasting tequila together, and hearing how they made the certain decisions and learning about the family and understanding what they're trying to accomplish. Don't forget this special part inside the barrel house where you actually see the bottom of the fermentation tanks. When you walk down into the cellar, the temperature drops probably 15 to 20 degrees. So now you have that colder fermentation that's making its changes into this tequila. Not to forget their house brand, Joselito. So I haven't cracked these yet, but I didn't get to taste it at the distillery. We did get to sit and pour a lot of tequila, taste what was in their barrels, and really get an idea and sense of where this brand is going. And I've got to say, this is a brand that you've got to keep your eyes out in the future. And if you want to see where this brand is going and other brands, the tequila report you can get a lot of information about new brands, old brands, the tequila industry, and maybe even how to visit distilleries like this one. Go to the Tequila Report.com subscribe and check it out. First of all, I want to say to Oswaldo and the Gonzalez family, thank you so much for opening the doors to us, letting us sit down and learn the story about Bermudo. If you haven't seen the interview with Oswaldo, definitely check it out on my channel. It's something worth watching. If you're ever in this area, it's something worth going to see. If you've been to this distillery, let me know in the comments. If you've had Ramito or Joselito Tequila, I'd love to hear that story too. Let me know what you think of these brands. Cheers. Have a fantastic night.