An agave spirit distilled from chato agave by Caballito Cerrero
Caballito Cerrero is a unique agave spirit, a distillery with a rebellious streak. Although their agave spirits often fit the criteria to be called tequila they are instead a “destilade de agave”.
Chato is an agave variety similar to espadin, which is used in a lot of mezcal expressions.
This is a savoury take from the distillery, the agave notes defined by notes of kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatos.
Caballito Cerrero was founded in 1950 by Don Alfonso Jiménez Rosales who had previously founded Herradura. So the story goes, after falling out over a family dispute Don Alfonso started Caballito Cerrero which means ‘the one that doesn’t need horseshoes,’ a not-so-subtle reference to Herradura which translates to “horseshoe”. The agave spirit is produced at the Santa Rita factory, which was built in 1873 by Don Alfonso’s father-in-law.
The distillery produces a traditional type of tequila or agave spirit and in 2018 they decided to drop the name “tequila”. The decision comes down a number of factors, including tequila’s use of 100% blue agave, rather than a mixture of agaves as early producers would, and the distillery also feels that the global demands placed on tequila production mean that often tequila brands are forced to modernise in the pursuit of yields – something they refuse to do.
