Nor tequila, nor mezcal. Meet raicilla!

A product with Designation of Origin (DO) crosses borders more easily and expands a rich cultural tradition. The first liquor to obtain DO was tequila in December 1974. However, according to the Mexican Institute of Industrial Propriety (IMPI), the tequila industry made the first request a year before its publication in the Official Journal of the Federation.

In this sense, tequila pioneered the way for other traditional liquors to begin their search for protection in terms of industrial propriety. The IMPI plays a crucial role since it authorizes or denies the declaration of protection and it was through this Institute that mezcal, sotol, and charanda were legally protected. In said declarations details such as the method of elaboration, the type of plant and agave used for must extraction, and the spirit's traditional origins, are specified.

The case of raicilla is an example of the importance exerted by this categorization. Jorge A. Dueñas Peña, producer of raicilla El Real and founder of the Mexican Promoter Council of Raicilla, comments that while the distillate obtained from the agave inaequidens is sold as Collective Trademark since 2000, it is true that they are still waiting to obtain the DO. “According to an investigation, only 16 municipalities would hold the DO, being the main producers: San Sebastián del Oeste, Mascota, Cabo Corriente y Atenguillo, located in the state of Jalisco, a region where 100 thousand liters of raicilla are produced each year.”

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