Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Today we're diving into the coolest hidden gem in Puerto Vallarta. An artisanal agave spirit that's not only delicious, but it's made at a place you have to visit. This is the Rosa expression and the reposado expression of Finca Dio, a family run distillery built on love, legacy and a whole lot of agave. And I recently sat down with Greg and we talked about the brand and how they got started doing this. So if you didn't watch Interview last week, definitely check it out on the YouTube channel. Hey guys, if you love discovering small batch honest agave spirits, this one's going to jump out as a must try on your list. Today I'm going to review Finca Diese, Ocho Rosa and Reposado. These are incredibly artisanal agave spirits. The Rosa is aged for 17 days in ex merlot French oak barrels from Napa Valley and the Repo is aged four for seven months in ex bourbon barrels. So before we jump into tasting nose and let's talk about where this spirit comes from and some of the magic behind it. Finca18 sits on a ranch in Puerto Vallarta, right on the historic El Camino Real. The Property belonged to Dr. Roberto Sanchez, and after he passed away, the ranch set abandoned for nearly 10 years. Instead of letting it fade away, the family transformed it into an old restaurant until it became a working distillery in 2022. Their vision was simple. Create a real artisanal agave spirit experience. Something authentic, something intimate and something that wasn't a tourist trap. And that's where Greg Grotowski comes in. Greg's an agave spirits aficionado. I just did that interview that we talked about. Go back and check out that video. He breaks down everything of how this is made. Greg helped the Senchez family turn this into Finca Dsa Ocho. It's an absolutely incredible destination. I can't wait to get there and walk through the property ourselves. When you talk about how this is made and why we don't call it tequila, this is 100% Blue Weber agave. In fact, it's all 100% CRT certified Blue Weber agave. But they do not participate in the crt, so their tequila can't be called that. It's an agave desolate or just an agave spirit. So think of it as a tequila that's uncertified. So they are using blue agave and nothing else in these. And they're doing it in an incredibly artisanal way. Those agaves are brought in and they're cooked underground in an underground oven. They use a tohona and sometimes just mallet crush their agaves and then from there they're just letting them ferment in open tanks. And however long it takes, the fermentation is with fibers and it's all wild with wild yeast, so nothing's added to it. So sometimes it's going to take a little longer than what you're going to see on a tequila that's maybe done in a more industrial type style. And then from there, there wood fired copper stills to create this product. So you get, you can't get much older than the way that they're doing it. And I really want to do these together to get the difference between what the oak does to just the agave spirit and what those ex merlot give it. So let's nose the rose. At first I get that agave spirit. I get a little smoke, I get some minerality, I get a nice fruit almost, I want to say like a pear. And I do get like a really rich oak smell. So let's, let's go into the nose of just the repo. Same cooked agave, the same little bit of smoke there, a lot more minerality, just a little bit of fruit. And I'm going to say this one to me is more of almost a grape than it is a pear. And I do get like a little bit of a musty barrel note that I would get from a normal like reposado. Both very pleasant. Okay, let's hit the Rosa first.
[00:03:55] Okay. That's got a great sweetness to it. It has a little bit of a heat that comes in. I get definitely get that wine barrel fruity notes in this one. Almost strawberry or raspberry.
[00:04:07] It does have a nice cooked agave. There's no smoke at all in the flavor to me that I could smell.
[00:04:13] There's a lot of minerality to this one. And in the finish it's just a touch of pepper. So let's dive into the regular repo here. Cooked agave, but caramel and more vanilla. So really kind of completely different just from that wood influence. There's a lot of minerality, but there's a vegetable note. It has a nice peppery, sweet finish on this one. So I get that cooked agave and like a little pepper together and I want to take another sip of this one and kind of walk through the finish and then do the same for that. So this finish, it's. It's pretty long, it's not aggressive. It's not like one that you. You really can feel the whole time. It's just kind of hanging on there a little bit. It's really clean. It's refreshing. I get that vanilla, I get that caramel, and I get a nice, just little peppery heat. So let's, let's do the Rosa one more time. Now maybe it's this one now being influencing because I, I do pick up a little caramel, but the fruit is really there. It's a light fruit. There's some pear. It's a little citrusy. I get a little bit of pepper, some nice agave sweetness.
[00:05:14] This, this is really good stuff, guys. So this is what I love about small batch producers. The family takes over this forgotten ranch. They bring it back to life. They partner with someone like Greg who genuinely cares about the craft and creates an agave spirit that reflects the heart of Puerto Vallarta. It's not just a crazy resort. This thing is the real thing. It's unique. It's.
[00:05:32] And this is a great introduction to Finca Dioce Ocho. If you want more about the story of the brand, check out my interview with Greg. If you're ever in Puerto Vallartes, definitely a place to visit, send me a message. I can get you some information about it. Make sure you subscribe, drop a comment if you've ever tried Finca Diese Ocho. And if you're planning any trips, cheers.
