ArteNOM Seleccion 1579 Blanco Tequila 750ml

Founded by Jacob Lustig in 2010, ArteNOM Selección works with a handful of small, family-run Jalisco distilleries, releasing each bottling under the official NOM number of the specific site where it was made. This 1579 expression comes from Felipe Camarena's El Pandillo distillery in Jesús María, a highland town near 6,800 feet in elevation, prized for its stressed hillside agave and mineral-rich soils. Camarena is known for pushing traditional Los Altos tequila production in unconventional directions while keeping the spirit additive-free.

Production starts with 100% blue Weber agave grown in Jesús María's high-altitude terroir. The trimmed piñas are halved and slow-roasted in a brick kiln for roughly thirty hours, then macerated with their fibers using a mechanical tahona before fermentation begins in open-air tanks filled with a fifty-fifty mix of captured rainwater and mineral-rich well water. The spirit is double distilled in small copper pot stills, then rests through a twenty-four hour oxygenation period before bottling, a step meant to knit the flavors together without any barrel aging.

Unaged and crystal clear, this blanco opens with cooked agave, mint, and a yeasty minerality reminiscent of fresh rainfall. On the palate, spearmint and freshly cut grass meet deeply caramelized agave and a touch of citrus, building toward a rounded, soft, and lingering finish with hints of white pepper and mineral brightness.