During a tasting at the distillery Los Alambiques in Jalisco, Mexico, master distiller Carlos Camarena stops at two blanco tequilas that look similar until he starts talking about them. They were made in the same manner, in the same season, and with the same equipment. The only variable is the agave, which was grown in two different regions. For Camarena, this is where the story gets interesting.
The first tequila, he says, is like a kid growing up in the suburbs – “a little bit easier life, a little bit easier, softer. The character is a little more gentle.” Second? He grew up in a tough neighborhood. “Every day when it comes out of the house, it has to struggle to survive. So there are some difficulties in it”
Courtesy Tequila Ocho
It is classic Camarena who is able to simply and expertly explain terroir – a concept that once seemed foreign to tequila – through the parable of two children going to school. This is one reason why he has become one of the most influential figures in modern tequila. It wasn’t just the farms and distilleries that innovated. He changed the way people understood and spoke about tequila.
Agave Roots and Tequila Responsibility
Camarena is a fifth-generation agave grower and third-generation tequila grower, but he’ll tell you that his relationship with agave began long before he understood his family’s business. “Tequila and agave have always been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” he says. He learned to drive a jeep at the age of 10 so he could take jimadoras to the fields to harvest agave. Late in life, he studied agriculture because he fell in love with the plant itself – he still keeps a private garden of agave species. “I love agave,” he says.
His plan was to spend his life in the fields. But when Camarena returned from college, degree in hand and ready to take up farming, his father had another idea. His father planned to work the fields himself, while Camarena took over running the distillery and handling all tasks and duties of administration. “I don’t really know how to produce tequila,” Camarena told him. But his father simply shrugged his shoulders. “You’ll learn,” he told his son. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
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So Camarena went to the distillery and learned how to make tequila from second- and third-generation workers at the family’s distillery, La Altena. And most importantly, they learned that if tequila has only one raw material, everything depends on the quality of the agave. “If you don’t have first-quality agaves,” he says, “there’s no way you can produce first-quality tequila.”
That passion for agave – and terroir – ultimately led to his most influential idea.
Birth of Tequila Ocho
In the mid-2000s, Camarena was spending time with his friend Tomás Estes, the late ambassador of tequila to the European Union and an avid lover of Burgundy wines. Estes talked a lot about terroir in wine and Camarena realized he was seeing
His family was growing in the same agave. Agave production varied subtly in each region. Although these differences were not limited to the regions of Camarena, the industry generally blended agaves from different regions together to overcome these differences and produce a consistent product. Camarena wondered what would happen if he did the opposite and began celebrating these differences.
The idea was so revolutionary at the time that many people had trouble paying attention to it. But she and Estes persevered and in 2008 created tequila ochoOne that did not pursue continuity, but rather celebrated differences. He says, “Instead of pretending it’s not happening, let’s be upfront and transparent about it. Let’s show the world how different they can be.”
Etiquette
In practical terms, this means that each batch of Tequila Ocho is made from agave grown on a single property. The label on the front of each bottle proudly states the name of the estate, its altitude, and the year the agave was harvested.
Tequila Ocho has not only survived but become a favorite of bartenders and tequila connoisseurs. While the brand was originally created at Camarena’s historic distillery La Altena, it has become so successful that three years ago it moved to its own distillery, Tequilera Los Álambices. (His daughter, Jenny Camarena, is now the master distiller of La Altena, which continues to create several tequila brands.)
Courtesy Tequila Ocho
Today, terroir-driven agave spirits are everywhere. Camarena doesn’t brag about playing a key role in starting the trend, but he allows himself a small smile: “At that moment, we were paving the way for other people and now everyone is realizing that was the reality.”
From Highlands to the World
Camarena has witnessed changes in the American tequila market over the past 40 years. He says, when he first traveled to the North it was to boost his family’s sentiments. “The general response was ‘No thanks. I don’t want to know anything about tequila.'” Cheap spring-break tequila had taken its toll.
Education changed everything. So transparency also came. Sustainability is now their focus: crop rotation, composting, biological pest control, solar energy and complete recycling. “I don’t own the land,” he says. “I’m just the custodian. I need to take care of it for the next generations.”
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And when he talks about management – of the farms, the brewery, the family name – it’s impossible not to hear about the man from whom he learned it all. This is the person he would most like to share tequila with. “My father,” he says. “I’ll have another tequila with my dad, and I’ll say, ‘You were right in everything you showed me. Look how far we got.'”
