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Raicilla is a Mexican spirit, distilled like tequila
and mezcal from the genus Agave. Essentially
a Jalisciense mezcal, raicilla was granted a
Denominación de Origen (DdO) in January 2019,
the application of which has already engendered
controversy. Originating in southwestern Jalisco,
traditionally raicilleros created and sold their
product without government regulation as allow-
able DdO production within Jalisco had previ-
ously been solely relegated to tequila. (As a side
note, in 1999 the Cuervo family lost its exclusive
right of use for the name raicilla, which it had
held since the 19th century.) e most common
agave species used to produce raicillas include
angustifolia, maximiliana, inaequidens, valenci-
ana, rhodacantha, silvestri and others, with the
noted exception of azul — tequila's sole agave
source. Most production occurs from December
to May. Production areas and styles include:
¡ La Costa — northern and more sub-trop-
ical, rising from the sea upland with fruity
and smoky characteristics
¡ Sierra — possessing the greatest number
of distillers, often offering more herba-
ceous and complex characteristics
¡ Southern — retains a longer tradition,
possesses the largest diversity of agave
varieties and technical styles
My guide through raicilla-land was Xavier
Villegran, owner of Balam brand. Villegran
works mainly as a negotiant, sourcing what he
thinks best from a variety of sources bottling a
variety of categories and styles so as to create a
definable brand. "Before my Oaxacan wife mar-
ried me, I'd visit her in Tehuana, learning and
falling in love with the magic of her culture and
its native mezcal as I did the woman." Balam is
founded upon sourcing a wide range of small
production, wildcrafted Mexican spirits.
For two centuries, the Contreras clan has dis-
tilled tequila at their Valle de Juarez home in
the Sierras de Tigre, also Balam's name of this
bottling, whereas their more ancestral raicilla is
Altamina's Ramon "Monkey" Morales
