Aroma: cooked agave, freshly cut herbs, salinity

Palate: fruity agave, pepper, dill, pickle brine, mustard, grilled pineapple

Finish: juicy with a bit of salinity that will get your salivary glands going

Founded in 1950 by Don Alfonso Jiménez Rosales, a co-founder of Herradura who, after a family dispute, set off to start his own brand, Caballito Cerrero and is one of the oldest Tequila brands that is no longer included in the NOM that specifies it as a Tequila. Now recognized as “Destilado de Agave” or agave distillate, they use agave chato, a cousin of espadín, that was often used in Tequila production before the blue agave was specified.

They were the first and for a long time the only producer in the region who purposefully rejected using term “Tequila". This is because the Jiménez family feel they do not need the help by the marketing strength of the word “Tequila” and that their knowledge and respect of agave spirits is more than enough required.

Santa Rita Distillery is run by 14th and 15th generation Tequileros and one of the few families that has a direct line to producers of vino del mezcal in the 1600’s. Not only were they one of the most prolific and successful Tequila brands to prosper in the Guadalajara area, they are now admired and touted by the up and coming generations of Tequila lovers. Ask for a mass produced brand at El Gallo Altanero, a hip, secret upstairs bar in the Americana section of GDL, and a bartender will probably hand you this instead. Sandwiched between massive Brown Forman owned, Herradura, and the oldest known Tequila distillery, Cielo Abierto(Now an archeological site owned by the Jiménez family and recognized by UNESCO), Caballito Cerrero looks to future innovation by maintaining traditions lost long ago.