Tasting

Anyone smelling a Bacanora for the first time often thinks of campfire and dry earth. Only afterward does any sweetness come through at all. This comes from the mesquite wood used in cooking and from the wild, lean agave. Together they create a note that is earthier and smokier than in most Tequilas.

According to the distillery, Sunora Bacanora is made with just three ingredients: juice of the Agave Pacifica, a proprietary yeast, and water from the Río Zanjón aquifer, with no additives at all. The brand is among the few also found in specialty shops outside Mexico.

Don Mateo, an older Vinata brand from the Sierra, represents a more rugged, traditional style. Small family operations like the Vinata of the Encinas family often bottle their wild Bacanora only by hand and in small quantities. Sometimes it carries only the plain name of the ravine the agave comes from.

In Sonora, Bacanora is traditionally drunk from the caballito, a narrow, tall little glass originally meant for Tequila. Or people use a simple jícara, a hollowed-out gourd shell, still common in the countryside. It's sipped in small mouthfuls, unhurried, often with a glass of water in between.

Some connoisseurs additionally try it from a rounded copita, the kind known from Sherry. The narrow glass concentrates smoke and earthy notes better before they reach the nose. Bacanora is meant for slow tasting, with time and attention for each individual nuance.