Mijenta Released the Excellent New Maestra Selection No. 3 Tequila
One of the best modern tequila brands on the market is Mijenta, which is focused on producing high-quality aged and un-aged expressions that are additive free (although it can’t really advertise itself as such, per Mexico’s tequila regulating body’s regulations). The latest release, Maestra Selection No. 3, is a blanco tequila that was made using a series of traditional production methods, and the result is a new bottle that is worth hunting down.
Mijenta was founded in 2020 by Juan Coronado, Elise Som, and former Bacardi CEO Mike Dolan. Ana Maria Romero is the maestra tequilera for the brand, and though she does currently work with a few other brands, she continues to shepherd the Mijenta lineup—including this brand-new release. Maestra Selection No. 3 follows two previous releases: the first was made from “agaves de semilla,” or agaves grown from seeds instead of the usual clones; the second was made from agaves grown in each of the five Mexican states that are part of tequila’s denomination of origin (Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas).
Maestra Selection No. 3 is a blanco that, like the first release, was also made from eight-year-old agaves de semilla that were grown in Jamay, Jalisco. The pinas were cooked in an oven made from volcanic stone that came from Popocatépetl, a volcano near Mexico City, and crushed using a tahona, a giant stone wheel. Fermentation occurred in wooden tanks with the agave fibers, the tequila was distilled in copper pot stills, and it was rested in clay pots for 15 days to aerate and pick up some mineral notes before bottling.
“Every part of the production process plays a vital role in shaping the final taste profile of a tequila,” said Romero in a statement. “For this expression, I wanted to explore this impact more deeply and in a way that honors the origins and craftsmanship of tequila. While previous expressions in this series have explored a single variable at a time–first agave cultivation methods, then terroir–this release takes a broader view of the entire craft. The result is a tequila that is both unmistakably Mijenta and a unique spirit shaped by production methods not used in our core expressions.”
We got to sample this new tequila, and it’s very good. There’s a sweetness to the palate that starts things off, but that note is balanced by flavors of citrus, fresh grass, earthy cooked agave, black pepper, and just a hint of dark chocolate and toasted almond on the finish. Mexico City-based artist Sophia Castellanos, who designed the packaging for the second release, returned for this new one and created a piece called “Tapestry of Dreams” for the label.
You can find Mijenta’s Maestra Selection No. 3 available now at retailers around the country and at the brand’s website (SRP $100).
