Bacanora (liquor)

Agave vivipara

The Bacanora is a distillate from the state of Sonora, Mexico. It is made from the cooking, fermentation and distillation of agave, like tequila, mezcal, sotol and raicilla; these four alcoholic beverages are protected by denominations of origin. This drink is obtained from the Angustifolia Haw type agave or popularly also known as espadín or yaquiana agave (Agave vivipara). It is generally a colorless drink with a high alcohol content, varying between 38% and 55% alcohol volume.

He was considered “illegal” for a period of 77 years. He did not enjoy the permission or the support of the state or national government for its production, until in 1992 a series of regulations were issued to be able to develop the industry again.

In the year 2000, it obtained the distinction of Denomination of Origin in 35 municipalities in the mountainous area of Sonora, becoming the only agave distillate to be produced in a single state of Mexico. There are currently five Agave distillates with Denomination of Origin in the country, these: Tequila (in Jalisco, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán and Tamaulipas), Mezcal (in Oaxaca, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán, Morelos, Puebla, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas), are Bacanora (in Sonora), Sotol in the states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila, and Raicilla (in Jalisco and Nayarit).

The word Bacanora comes from the indigenous language ópata, originally Bacanoraco and is interpreted as: "Ladera de reeds", comes from the linguistic roots Baca which means "reed" and Noraco which means "slopes". Since this ethnic group originating from the low and semi-high mountains of Sonora, they made a fermented drink based on Agave tatemado and water; for their most important rituals and festivities.

History

Everything seems to indicate that the peoples who inhabited the areas where the maguey grows had the habit of using it as a base to make fermented drinks and it would only be with the arrival of the Spanish when they would begin to produce distillates using stills. In fact, it is known that the religious who lived in Sonora in the XVIII century used to make some kind of mezcal, either for their own consumption or to sell. During the three centuries of existence of New Spain, the viceroyalty authorities oscillated between allowing the elaboration of mezcal and spirits, since they meant a sure income of money for the always-needed coffers of the Royal Treasury, and prohibiting it, in order to benefit to producers based in the Iberian Peninsula. However, despite any prohibition, people managed to set up their stills —which was not at all complicated—, get a plant from which to extract a juice rich in sugars, ferment it and, later, distill it.

The first mention of bacanora comes, however, from the 1880s. A French traveler recounts that, after meeting a group of Mexicans, they exchanged shots of cognac and a mezcal called bacanora, after which each one went on his way. The Agave angustifolia distillate, then, existed. Perhaps it already had its own name from a long time ago. After all, since 1850, in the midst of the political convulsions that were ravaging the country, the state government had allowed the free installation of stills and the production of mezcal, as long as the corresponding taxes were paid. Twenty years later, with peace of mind restored, the sector was booming. However, it is very likely that Sonora's condition as a peripheral territory would not have allowed the name of the bacanora to be known outside its borders; the drink itself, no way.

At the end of the XIX century, more than one million three hundred thousand liters of mezcal were produced in Sonora, in whose elaboration Around a thousand people participated. What kind of mezcal was it? It is not possible to know, although it can be inferred that a good part of this was bacanora. It is very probable that the production of bacanora would have increased constantly during the following decades, if an event had not gone through that completely upset the productive schemes of the state and, in general, of the country: the revolutionary struggle. Sonora, in particular, became the scene of violent combat, especially during the struggle of the constitutionalists against the Victoriano Huerta regime (1913-1914) and throughout the so-called faction struggle (1914-1915), during which the former allies fought among themselves to seize power and thus be able to establish a model of government in accordance with their ideas and interests.

For the camps to be filled with soldiers, the levy had to multiply and, added to the enormous number of people enrolled in the forces of one side or the other as volunteers, determined a decrease in the number of people dedicated to carrying out productive tasks, the effect of which was felt in all areas of the economy. As if that were not enough, on August 8, 1915, the constitutionalist governor of Sonora, Plutarco Elías Calles, issued a law prohibiting in the state "the import, sale and manufacture of intoxicating beverages", and imposed sentences of five years. for transgressors and three for their accomplices. The main argument of the governor —and future president of the Republic— was the same one that had been used, for similar purposes, at least since the 17th century: drunkenness fosters crime. The government, by fighting drunkenness, was not only working for public safety, but also fulfilling one of its inalienable duties: the moralization of the population under its charge.

The so-called Dry Law did not end the production of mezcal in Sonora; however, he led her into the shadows, into hiding, to operate through tricks and subterfuge, such as corruption. The guardians of the law —collectively called the Acordada, in memory of those who patrolled the roads in viceregal times and applied justice in the most expeditious manner possible— destroyed “vinatas” —that is, distilleries—, entered the mountains and They persecuted those who maintained deals with the Yaquis, to whom they sold alcohol in exchange for being able to operate with peace of mind.

The law promulgated by Calles was repealed in 1919. Despite this, its effects on the production of bacanora were far-reaching: the producers isolated themselves in the mountains and dedicated themselves to distilling the drink without paying attention to any kind of sanitary or commercial regulations. They lived and operated almost completely clandestinely, from which they built different commercial circuits in the Sierra de Sonora, through which they managed to position the bacanora as the traditional drink of the state. Proof of this was the recognition obtained in 1963, by designating it as a regional beverage in the Sanitary Regulations for Alcoholic Beverages —with respect to which, it is worth saying, most producers operated on the margin—, this measure was complemented by the issuance of a series of norms related to its production and commercialization in 1992, considered by many as the express permission of the government to elaborate and commercialize bacanora.

The change shown by the authorities regarding the production, distribution, and even the consumption of bacanora, led to the thought of protecting the drink through something more than simple tradition. For this reason, in May 1999, the Secretary of Economic Development and Productivity of Sonora submitted the request for a declaration of the appellation of origin to the bacanora. The measure not only tried to give formality to the productive processes of the drink but also, as a collateral benefit, sought to improve the standard of living of those who resided in the bacanora-producing municipalities, characterized over the decades by their high levels of poverty that, in some cases, reached almost eighty percent of the population.

In October 2000, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property agreed to issue the declaration of protection for the “Bacanora” denomination of origin, limited to thirty-five municipalities in the east and south of the state of Sonora, and it was published a month later in the Official Gazette of the Federation. The production conditions of the bacanora made the construction process of an official standard for its regulation take some time.

In 2004, the state government created the Fund for the Development of Bacanora Productive Projects, through which, in 2005, the Ministry of Economy, through the General Directorate of Standards, was able to to issue the project corresponding to the Official Standard NOM-168-SCFI-2004, where the same definitions and categories used for other beverages produced in the national territory were applied to the bacanora, together with the determination of the minimum levels and maximum alcohol allowed for the drink, in this case, thirty-eight and fifty-five degrees, respectively. Likewise, as a measure to maintain a certain quality control, it was determined that the product could only be marketed in bulk within the area protected by the appellation of origin and, invariably, when leaving it, it would have to be bottled.

This point would be questioned by US importers of the drink, who found it excessive and possibly contrary to the spirit of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The authorities, however, remained firm in their purpose, alleging that the original packaging does not affect commercial practices and, on the contrary, benefits the consumer, by assuring him that the product has not been adulterated. Having overcome the obstacle, the Official Mexican Standard NOM-168-SCFI-2004, “Alcoholic beverages. Bacanora. Elaboration, packaging and labeling specifications”, was issued in November 2005 and published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on December 14, 2005.

Four months later, in March 2006, the government of Sonora issued a decree creating the Sonoran Council for the Promotion of Bacanora Regulation —which is not yet certified under the Federal Law on Standardization and Metrology—, with the commission of management tasks related to obtaining support for the establishment of nurseries or the equipment of processing plants, as well as the formation of groups of producers, in addition to the normal tasks of promoting the drink and monitoring the quality of the product. product.

Timeline

XVI century: Uses of the maguey by the Sonoran indigenous tribes.

19th century: Mining development and greater demand for the drink.

1915: General Elías Calles prohibited the elaboration and commercialization of Bacanora. Destruction of vinatas and imprisonment or death of producers.

1963: It was designated as a regional drink in the Sanitary Regulation of Alcoholic Beverages.

1992: Modification of the Alcohol Law. Bacanora can be produced and marketed without legal restrictions.

1994: The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property publishes the General Declaration of Protection of the Denomination of Origin "Bacanora".

2005: Official Mexican STANDARD NOM-168-SCFI-2004. Alcoholic beverages-Bacanora-Production, packaging and labeling specifications.

2006: Sonora Council Promoter of Bacanora Regulation. Official Gazette March 30, 2006.

Elaboration process

In the small vinatas of the sierra, bacanora is produced by hand. The equipment includes an oven, a fermentation pit and a group of metal canisters, each with a capacity of two hundred liters -usually used to store water or transport chemicals-, one of which is adapted to allow the alcohol condensation. Precisely, what distinguishes bacanora from other mezcals is the procedure followed in the second distillation of the liquid, usually known as rectification, but in Sonora it is called “resaque”. During the hangover, the person in charge of supervising the elaboration of the bacanora —called a vintner in Sonora, equivalent to the mezcalero teacher— collects the first distillate that comes out of the still in a container: they are the heads, with a very high alcohol content. As soon as he observes that, in the flowing liquid, a group of small superficial bubbles are formed that take time to break —the so-called pearlites—, he changes the container. This is the bacanora, with between twenty and thirty degrees of alcoholic purity. Finally, when he notices that the bubbles disappear quickly, he changes the container again, because the last thing that is obtained from the distillation —the so-called tails— is made up almost entirely of water. The last step is to taste the bacanora and mix it with the heads to adjust its alcohol content. Or, as the vintners say, to “compose it”. Ultimately, the taste and graduation of the bacanora will be defined with the palate, which, in general, is between forty and fifty degrees.

The process of elaboration of bacanora follows particular rules, similar to those of tequila and mezcal.

• Jim.: Once the agave plants reach maturity after several years of growth, it is collected by removing the puntiagued pencas with a manual cutting instrument (coa), until leaving the core of the plant, which is called pineapple or maguey head.

• Recovery: the newly harvested maguey heads are fitted into a hole that digs into the ground. Such well is used to bake the heads, which are left inside for approximately 48 hours, to eventually remove them with a special hook. The end of this process is to convert by hydrolysis fructans into digestible sugars for yeast in the fermentation process.

• Molienda: the baked maguey heads are cut immediately into fragments and introduced into a mill. According to the size of the pineapple is cut in less or more pieces to facilitate the extraction of juice or juice.

• Fermentation: the ground maguey pulp is available in barrels or toneles with water, which are covered immediately from the weather and leave to ferment between 4 to 5 days.

• Distilation: The fermented pulp is placed in a tambo, in which the heat application carries the alcohols to boil and vaporizes them. Such vapours are immediately sent to a cooling coil to condense. The result of the first distillation has a high methanel content, so it leads to a second distillation, where the concentration of methanel drops to levels where the drink is safe and the resulting product is bacanora.