Born and raised in Caraz, Perú, Marco Suarez
Lara grew up seeing agave plants, known there
as maguey, as unwanted guests, “giant weeds,
growing without permission.”
But before globalization gave the region access
to cheaper products, the Caral Civilization found
maguey an essential tool for everyday life,
crafting products from and consuming it since as
far back as 5,000 years ago. 16th Century
Mexican chronologist Gutiérrez de Santa Clara
said, “everything that mother earth could
provide to live and thrive as a human race, she
put into this plant, from clothing... to eating and
drinking and even for healing.” Through
modernization, though, pre-Colombian
traditions of maguey use have been slowly lost
in Peruvian culture.
It wasn’t until a trip to Mexico in 1996 that
Marco saw the agave as a treasured, sacred
plant, recognizing its majesty after experiencing
the exquisite distillates it produced. Until Marco
brought Aqará to fruition twenty years later, the
agaves of the Andean Mountains of Perú
remained asleep, waiting for someone to come
and wake them. Marco and his team now work
to transform those same mature, wild agaves
into a beautiful spirit that pays tribute to its
place of origin.
Origin: Caraz, Perú
Agave: Ensamble of Americana
Expansa Gentry and Cordillerensis
Harvest: ~10 years (24° brix)
Crush: Cut by hand using a
machete into 1-2 inch cubes
Cook: 7 hours (mash tun using a
steam jacket) with local filtered
water
Fermentation: Stainless steel
tanks using dry yeasts and 5-10%
of the bagazo (leftover agave
fibers); for 12 hours anaerobic and
a further 60 hours aerobic
Distillation: Double in two copper
pot stills (120 and 150 liters
respectively)
Resting: Plateado/Agreste at least
3 months; Reposado 4 months in
new American Oak barrels
Yield: 18 kilos of wild agave will
yield 1 liter of spirit. Reposado
loses ~7% angel’s share.
Agreste: Leave 1/2” more verde
on the agave at harvest, adding
more distinct agave flavor in the
resulting distillate
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