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Craft Distillery

replacing the existing Class 7, Tequila. Hence,
Tequila and mezcal are now considered types
within the Agave Spirits class, and the standards of
identity for those products are not changed.

The proposed standard would include spirits dis-
tilled from a fermented mash, of which at least 51%
derives from plant species in the genus Agave and
up to 49% derived from other sugars. Agave spirits
must be distilled at less than 95% ABV and bottled
at or above 40% ABV. Aging, blending, flavoring and
coloring of agave spirits are allowed and provide
distillers with the ability to develop a unique brand
within this category.

Currently, most agave spirits distilled in the U.S.
use syrup imported from Mexico. For example,
State 38 Distilling in Golden, Colorado, and NOCO
Distillery in Fort Collins, Colorado, obtain 100%
organic Blue Agave from Mexico. Each distills and
bottles agave alcohol using pristine alpine water
from the Rocky Mountains and then adds its unique
signature to the spirit. According to Don Hammond,
owner and managing partner of State 38 Distilling,
they age their spirits in North American oak barrels.
Sebastien Gavillet, co-founder of NOCO Distillery,
said they triple distill their agave spirits for a
smoother finish.

Distilling Agave Spirits in the United States

The San Francisco Bay-Delta/Sacramento region,
internally described as the “farm-to-fork” capital
of the world, shows signs of emerging as a hub for
growing agave. Situated at an edge of hardiness
zones nine and 10, it does not have a prolonged
frost or severe winters, making the region an ideal
growing climate for various products, including
agave.

Craig Reynolds of California Agave Ventures, LLC
in Davis, California, began experimenting with
growing agave and producing spirits in Northern
California after receiving seedlings of Agave
Tequilana Weber Azul (Blue Weber Agave) from a
grower in Southern California. Agave Tequilana has
a higher sugar content and a faster time to matu-
rity than other agave species. It’s also the type of
agave exclusively used in Tequila.

In Reynolds’ estimation, the appeal of growing
this hardy plant in California is that it can be grown
in numerous environments with different variables

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