Celedonio Aquino Gutiérrez

Tío Celedonio generally reserves his work with agave for the dry months of the year, making only a few hundred liters annually from a mix of homegrown and wild-harvested agave. His family recalls their traditions of distillation dating back to 1808, with an Aquino ancestor arriving to the Lachigüizo from Zoquitlán, with copper pots in stow. A couple generations later, they relocated just down the river to Logoche, founding one of the first clandestine palenques in the village, around the turn of the 20th century. While tools, technology, and legal status have changed, Celedonio and his wife, Telesfora, continue to uphold the agrarian and gastronomic traditions of the region and distill with great pride.

Soil type: colorada, roja, cascajo, and negra

Oven: 10-ton capacity, conical, earthen oven

Mashing: Machete and shredder

Fermentation: 2 Montezuma cypress wood tanks. 1000 - 1200 liter capacity.

Distillation: Celedonio uses one 300-liter capacity copper pot still. Every batch is twice distilled and composed using choice cuts of the puntas (heads) and corázon (heart/body)