KIRKLAND SIGNATURE AÑEJO TEQUILA is
made of the finest 100 percent blue agave available.
The 50- to 70-pound hand-selected, hand-picked
agaves are an average of eight years old when harvested. The agave leaves are cut away to form piñas,
the ripe core of the plant.
The piñas are cut into quarters and baked in a
steam oven, where the natural starches are converted
to sugar. The baked piñas are then shredded, and
their juices are pressed out and placed in fermentation tanks. After fermentation, the juices are distilled
twice in stainless steel pot stills, resulting in a superior spirit that is transferred to American oak barrels
that have each been aged for one to six years before
use. Tequilas with the term “Extra Aged” on the label
have an average age of three years in oak barrels.
Kirkland Signature Añejo Tequila is blended by
master distiller Arturo Fuentes of Fabrica de Tequilas
Finos, a state-of-the-art distillery in the town of
Tequila, located in Jalisco, Mexico, 45 minutes
northwest of Guadalajara. Fabrica de Tequilas Finos
is certified kosher with the Orthodox Union,
Kashruth Division. The company boasts a complete
water-treatment plant. A private artesian well deep
beneath the distillery allows water to naturally filter
up through the volcanic soil and then be processed
through a proprietary filtration system. After using
the filtered water to create the fine tequilas, it is sent
back through the filtration system and returned to
the earth as if it had never left.
Below the ripe core of the agave is revealed
(left) and the piñas are moved to an oven before
baking (center). Proprietary filtration of artesian
well water (right) is a key part of the tequila
blending process.
Send wine questions to
kswineconnection@costco.com.
Annette Alvarez-Peters oversees
Costco’s national wine, spirits and
beer program.
