Jorge Alavarez
Discovered raicilla while working in the tequila industry. He sees raicilla as the highest form of spirits distilled from agave.
Wild Agave Maximiliana
Giant Maximiliana agaves which stand bigger than a VW van are a hard-to-find variety mostly found in racillas. When flowering, they can rise over 30 feet.
Uncommon Clay Oven Roasting
Mexicat Raicilla is a roasted inside large igloo-shaped clay-ovens. The team builds a big fire inside and lets it burn until the wall of the oven is very hot. They then rake out the embers and seal the agaves inside for 2 days. Because there is no direct contact with the wood, there is no smokey flavor and clean vegetal notes are allowed to shine.
Maximiliana
Cultiation starts near the Salcedo distillery.
Field of cultivated Maximiliana
The Salcedos plan to distill 60% cultivated, 40% wild.
Celebrating Huichol Craftsmanship
Each cat on each bottle is an individual handmade creation of a Huichol artist. It takes a full day to make three cat faces. Preserving traditional artisanal craftsmanship is a deliberate goal, both by sponsoring a craft agave spirit and by providing a livelihood to Huichol artisans. The culture is noted for using peyote in religious ceremonies. Their elaborate yarn weaving and beadwork has shamanistic overtones, and the imagery is often based on dreams.
Hand-Crafted Beadwork
It takes 2-3 hours to make each cat face
Jorge Alavarez
Discovered raicilla while working in the tequila industry. He sees raicilla as the highest form of spirits distilled from agave.
Wild Agave Maximiliana
Giant Maximiliana agaves which stand bigger than a VW van are a hard-to-find variety mostly found in racillas. When flowering, they can rise over 30 feet.
Uncommon Clay Oven Roasting
Mexicat Raicilla is a roasted inside large igloo-shaped clay-ovens. The team builds a big fire inside and lets it burn until the wall of the oven is very hot. They then rake out the embers and seal the agaves inside for 2 days. Because there is no direct contact with the wood, there is no smokey flavor and clean vegetal notes are allowed to shine.
Maximiliana
Cultiation starts near the Salcedo distillery.
Field of cultivated Maximiliana
The Salcedos plan to distill 60% cultivated, 40% wild.
Celebrating Huichol Craftsmanship
Each cat on each bottle is an individual handmade creation of a Huichol artist. It takes a full day to make three cat faces. Preserving traditional artisanal craftsmanship is a deliberate goal, both by sponsoring a craft agave spirit and by providing a livelihood to Huichol artisans. The culture is noted for using peyote in religious ceremonies. Their elaborate yarn weaving and beadwork has shamanistic overtones, and the imagery is often based on dreams.
Hand-Crafted Beadwork
It takes 2-3 hours to make each cat face
Mexicat Raicilla Sierra
From the El Mosco distillery near Mascota in the Jalisco Sierra Occidental, operated by 4th generation Benito and Jose Salceda, agronomist brothers and Raicilla pioneers deeply engaged in a large sustainability project using agave Maximiliana (called lechuguilla). The 40% abv nicely balances the intensity of the large wild Maximiliana. Flavorful and soft. Double distillation shows a smoother side of raicilla.
Mexicat is the brainchild of Jorge Alvarez, who discovered raicilla while working in the tequila industry. He sees raicilla as the highest form of spirits distilled from agave.
There’s more. Each cat on each bottle is an individual handmade creation of a Huichol artist. It takes a full day to make three cat faces. Preserving traditional artisanal craftsmanship is a deliberate goal, both by sponsoring a craft agave spirit and by providing a livelihood to Huichol artisans.
The Huicholes retreated into remote mountainous terrain in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Zacatecas to escape Spanish influence. They live very simply and have preserved their ancestral spirituality. The Huicholes are noted for using peyote in religious ceremonies. Their elaborate yarn weaving and beadwork has shamanistic overtones, and the imagery is often based on dreams.
Mexicat raicilla is 100% agave Maximiliana, a large silvestran agave of unusual deep flavor, specifically a local variety known as lechugilla tipica (there are three main Maximiliana varieties: típica, pencas caidas, and pico de aguilar). Maximiliana looks like a giant cousin of the famous tobalá: they share a reputation for complexity.
Mexicat has started a massive sustainability program with the Maximiliana. Its major fields are now 4-5 years old. Mexicat raicilla is now 80% wild agaves; that percentage will be reduced as the cultivated fields come on line.
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Without exception, our goods are sold in the State of California, and title passes at purchase to the buyer in California. No representation is made as to the legal rights of anyone to ship to or import into any state other than California. The buyer is solely responsible for shipment to states outside California. By placing an order, the buyer authorizes Rarestill to act on his/her behalf to engage a common carrier to deliver his/her order to buyer.
Please read the information below carefully, especially if your purchase is a gift.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES MAY BE SOLD AND DELIVERED ONLY TO PERSONS WHO ARE AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD. IN PLACING YOUR ORDER, YOU REPRESENT TO US THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD AND THAT THE PERSON TO WHOM YOU ARE DIRECTING DELIVERY IS ALSO AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD.
When your goods are delivered, the person receiving delivery may be required to show identification proving that he or she is at least 21 years old.
All sales made on this website will be deemed to have taken place in Ukiah, CA, and sales taxes will be assessed based on that location.
Jorge Alavarez
Discovered raicilla while working in the tequila industry. He sees raicilla as the highest form of spirits distilled from agave.
Wild Agave Maximiliana
Giant Maximiliana agaves which stand bigger than a VW van are a hard-to-find variety mostly found in racillas. When flowering, they can rise over 30 feet.
Uncommon Clay Oven Roasting
Mexicat Raicilla is a roasted inside large igloo-shaped clay-ovens. The team builds a big fire inside and lets it burn until the wall of the oven is very hot. They then rake out the embers and seal the agaves inside for 2 days. Because there is no direct contact with the wood, there is no smokey flavor and clean vegetal notes are allowed to shine.
Maximiliana
Cultiation starts near the Salcedo distillery.
Field of cultivated Maximiliana
The Salcedos plan to distill 60% cultivated, 40% wild.
Celebrating Huichol Craftsmanship
Each cat on each bottle is an individual handmade creation of a Huichol artist. It takes a full day to make three cat faces. Preserving traditional artisanal craftsmanship is a deliberate goal, both by sponsoring a craft agave spirit and by providing a livelihood to Huichol artisans. The culture is noted for using peyote in religious ceremonies. Their elaborate yarn weaving and beadwork has shamanistic overtones, and the imagery is often based on dreams.
Hand-Crafted Beadwork
It takes 2-3 hours to make each cat face
