Our Mexican Whisky Process

Mexico is the birthplace of corn. Approximately 10,000 years ago, maize appeared as the fruit of the domestication of teosinte, a wild species with a very different appearance from today's maize, cultivated by the first farmers of Mesoamerica. More than just a crop, corn is the primary food base of all indigenous Mexican culture and a foundational element and valued heirloom in the identity of the country.

Of the many criollo varieties of corn originating in Mexico, Abasolo uses cacahuazintle in the production of Abasolo whiskey. This corn only grows at more than 7,000 feet above sea level and is found exclusively in elevated valleys throughout the States of Mexico, Tlaxcala and Puebla. Cacahuazintle has large, bulky kernels and is typically used to make pozole, esquites and corn bread when the corn is tender. Unlike GMO corn hybrids, this ancestral corn has been passed down for generations and cultivated for its taste instead of its commercial productivity.

Destilería Abasolo works directly with farmers located in the mountainous areas of the State of Mexico. We pay without intermediaries and support our farmers with direct financing.

Nixtamalization, Grain Roasting, & Milling

Through Abasolo's unique use of nixtamalization — a 4,000-year-old cooking technique — the deepest notes of our ancestral ingredients are uncovered. There is no whisky in the world with a process or taste profile like this.

Harvesting

—

Ancestral, Cacahuazintle, corn is dried in the field before being harvested.

Trimming

—

Cacahuazintle maize kernels are separated from each cob by trimming the base of the grains.

Limewater Bath

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Kernels are cooked near the boiling point in a lime water, alkaline solution.

Soaking

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Maize is left in the alkaline cooking liquid until kernels soften and hulls are dissolved.

Washing

—

Kernels are washed with fresh water.

Roasting

—

Nixtamalized corn is dried with hot air and roasted for about four hours in an adapted coffee roaster.

Milling

—

The roasted corn is crushed in a stone tortilla mill until it becomes a fine flour that will serve as the base to produce our whiskey.

Harvest

—

Ancestral, Cacahuazintle, corn is dried in the field before being harvested.

Trimming

—

Cacahuazintle maize kernels are separated from each cob by trimming the base of the grains.

Limewater Bath

—

Kernels are cooked near the boiling point in a lime water, alkaline solution.

Soaking

—

Maize is left in the alkaline cooking liquid until kernels soften and hulls are dissolved.

Washing

—

Kernels are washed with fresh water.

Roasting

—

Nixtamalized corn is dried with hot air and roasted for about four hours in an adapted coffee roaster.

Milling

—

The roasted corn is crushed in a stone tortilla mill until it becomes a fine flour that will serve as the base to produce our whiskey.

A small fraction of the corn used in the Abasolo whisky mash is malted. Whole grains of cacahuazintle corn are germinated in the dark until the first leaf and first root are formed. The maize is then milled and incorporated into the mash.

Abasolo’s roasted, nixtamalized corn flour is dissolved in stainless steel tanks with hot water. Malted corn is added to the mix and stirred for several hours. Through this process, the transformation of starch into wort occurs and can then be fermented by yeast.

Abasolo wort is slowly fermented with a select yeast for more than 120 hours until all sugars are converted into alcohol and other volatile compounds. The fermented wort will go on to distillation, the next phase of the process.

Fermented wort is poured into traditional copper stills to make a first distillation where the volatile compounds are trapped. A second slow distillation concentrates the alcohol enough to make it ready for aging.

The obtained corn distillate is matured in new toasted and used oak casks in an open warehouse with a light roof and no walls where temperature fluctuations and changing conditions provide a unique aging profile before Abasolo is bottled.

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