Siete Leguas Añejo

Siete Leguas remains true to its roots, utilizing a combination of old-world methods with modern scale to deliver some of the most delicious and widely available tequilas from a craft brand.

There are many highlights from visiting the Siete Leguas (NOM 1120) distillery, starting with their unique ‘closed’ tahona pit that traps all the agave juice from crushing. It uses no water and has no drain, so the liquid gets a chance to sit and reabsorb back into the fibers.

They carry those juicy agave fibers through fermentation and even into the first distillation—an uncommon and distinctive approach. The intentionality of a closed tahona pit and carrying the fibers throughout the production pulls along some of the minerality from the stone while delivering full agave flavor.

Speaking of tahona crushing the agave, I hope you didn’t think I would leave out the most exciting part—the mules! Siete Leguas still utilizes mules to power the tahona wheel. Mules are working animals, and they looked very happy to be doing their job when I was there.

The final product actually benefits from the blending of two underlying methods for agave crushing processes—tahona and roller mill, to deliver a balanced bottled expression.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Siete Leguas is how they scaled without sacrificing quality. When they expanded to multiple distilleries, they used fermented mosto from the old distillery to literally paint the walls of the new building, helping carry the location’s unique, environmentally influenced yeast to the next site.

You can imagine the happy mules and almost smell the agave cooking, so now let’s taste the final product.

Aroma: Cooked agave still comes through on this pale añejo, followed by vanilla, light oak, and a touch of grapefruit.

Flavor: The aroma notes carry to the flavor with agave, vanilla, oak, and grapefruit. But here I also get some black pepper, earth, and minerals to complement.

Finish & Character: The finish exits with some vanilla, pepper, and a slight bitter from the oak or grapefruit. It’s fairly light and dissipates quickly. The light color and muted oak on this expression may have you confusing it with a reposado.

Siete Leguas is a classic tequila brand retaining tradition while innovating. Their tequilas are readily available and reasonably priced. You might even run into them at the grocery store or airport, and if you do, I highly recommend picking one up!