'Australian Agave'
Limited Edition Tasting Flight
40-48% ABV / 5x30mL
It's no secret that tequila is on the rise. In stark contrast to the shudder-inducing tequila shots taken with salt and lime years ago, this time the tequila obsession is about quality and craftsmanship.
Australian distillers have decided to throw their hat in the ring. Whilst their creations can't be called tequila (only agave spirits made in certain regions of Mexico can bear the tequila name), the quality of their 'agave spirits' is starting to get noticed. In this tasting set, you'll explore a range of agave spirits made in different ways. Some of them are made with pure agave nectar which is distilled, while others start by growing their own agave from scratch before roasting, fermenting and distilling them the traditional way.
Each agave spirit is presented in a 30ml matte-black glass sampler bottle and labelled with the distillery, spirit name and where it was distilled. A sleek and eco-friendly themed slide-out box holds the bottles together. On the back of the box, you'll find some light reading - a brief profile of each distillery and spirit.
Designed as a gift for those who have everything already, or to help seek out your own agave adventure at home.
Included agave spirits
'ASp Joven' by Black Snake Distillery
Rosemary and Stephen are the founders and sole workers at Black Snake Distillery. With a dogged determination to make grain to glass agave spirit, they do it the hard way. Wild agave plants that grow on their Narrabri property are harvested, cooked in an earthen oven fired with Eucalyptus wood, chopped up, fermented, distilled and bottled on-site. The ASp Joven is unaged and exhibits a moderate smokiness imparted by the Eucalyptus fired oven.
'Smoked Agave Spirit' by Echuca Distillery
Based on the banks of the Murray River, Echuca Distillery is owned and operated by two brothers with backgrounds in fragrance and flavour manufacturing. Starting with Blue Weber agave nectar imported from Mexico, it’s fermented then double distilled. This smoked version is then infused with wood smoke. It received a gold medal at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
'Agave Spirit' by Mount Compass Spirits
Originally hailing from Liverpool in the UK, owners David and Jenny came to Australia in 2009, lived near the McLaren Vale wine region, then got hooked on wine and spirits. Mount Compass Spirits sprang up in 2014 and how makes a wide range of spirits. Their Agave Spirit is fermented and distilled from agave syrup made with 100% Australian agave plants.
'Agave Blanco' by Mountain Distilling
Mountain Distilling is the result of a beer salesperson and a winemaker who came together to chat about wine but quickly figured out their real passion lay in making spirits. Agave Blanco is made by fermenting 100% organic Blue Weber agave syrup using a yeast strain from Mexico. They do an open ferment to let wild yeasts around the distillery stamp their unique signature on the spirit.
'Agave Australis Rested' by Mt Uncle Distillery
Based in the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, Mt Uncle Distillery was founded more than 20 years ago by Mark Watkins, a 16 year old hobby distiller at the time with big ambitions. Agave Australis Rested is made from 100% Blue Weber agave grown on-site. The agave is harvested then slow roasted before being fermented and double distilled. It’s matured in ex-red wine American Oak casks for two months.
