Siembra Valles Aniversario "Capón" Blanco

Few individuals have influenced the appreciation of traditionally made tequila as profoundly as David Suro, owner of the Siembra Spirits family of tequilas.

Restaurateur, educator, producer, and tireless advocate for agave culture, Suro has spent four decades encouraging consumers to look beyond the bottle. From opening Philadelphia’s iconic Tequilas restaurant in 1986, one of the first destinations in the United States devoted to authentic regional Mexican cuisine and premium tequila, to helping champion sustainability through the Tequila Interchange Project, his work has consistently placed culture and authenticity ahead of convenience.

The Siembra Valles Aniversario Blanco reflects that same philosophy—a tequila created not simply to celebrate an anniversary, but to honor authentic production and experimental techniques, both of which have defined Suro’s life’s work and this expression specifically.

For this exquisitely crafted blanco, the agaves were allowed to reach extreme maturity in the volcanic soil of the Valley. They were then given a capón cut, in essence, castrating the quiote at about a meter high. However, instead of harvesting the agave soon after the capón, Suro’s team kept the agave in the ground and allowed them to continue to ripen for another 11 months and 2 weeks.

Most agave will begin to ferment and then rot in the ground very soon after the quiote is cut. In my conversation with David, I incredulously asked, “…so around 12 months?” In a truly caring and endearing way, he confirmed, “No. Exactly 11 months and 2 weeks.” Through experimentation, Suro and his team had discovered the exact time that some select agave were capable of this long-term in-ground wait period.

During the wait, the piña continues to create sugars meant to feed the growth of the quiote, but in this strategy, those sugars have nowhere to go, so they swell the piña and thus intensify Brix level and flavor.

Bottled at a robust 46% ABV, the Siembra Valles Anniversario delivers a beautiful and harmonious nose and palate experience.

This specific version that I’m reviewing was made with brick ovens and yielded approximately 1,500 liters, but there was also a very special small batch of this expression where the agave were pit-cooked. If you try this reviewed brick-oven version and enjoy it, you’ll be on the hunt for a bottle of that much smaller batch, because, like me… you just have to know!

Nose: Sweet cooked agave / vanilla / hint of cinnamon / earth / apple / hint of citrus / bell pepper / floral

Taste: Sweet cooked agave / spicy cinnamon / vanilla / black pepper / tangerine / green apple / anise / peppermint / orange blossom / baking spices / mineral

Finish: Medium viscosity envelops the palate / the sweet cooked agave, spicy cinnamon, and pepper notes light up a delicious fire across the tongue / the fruit and citrus notes pop out between the spicier flavors / spicy cinnamon and tangerine sweet notes rise and dissipate, with the pepper leaving a harmonious balance on the palate as the final tastes linger away nicely

Siembra Valles Aniversario Blanco serves as another chapter in David Suro’s lifelong passion for creating tequila that pushes new boundaries. However, his greatest contribution may be changing the way the world talks about tequila. I highly recommend this expression.

Special note: Talking with David Suro was a bucket-list experience for me. He invited me to his restaurant in the future to taste that “special small batch.” Yes, please!