The Atotonilco highland agave used in the lot were harvested late into the Spring, just before the arrival of 1998’s summer rains. It was laid into barrel in August of that summer and spent the next 15 years stored in a dry, earthen-floor aging room in the town of Atotonilco el Alto. Because the agave used here had lower sugar content resultant of the prior year’s El Niño storms (which had water-logged the plants), a delightful faint sweetness is restored by aging nearly entirely in American white oak. A scant 3% of the lot was laid into French Oak, in order to contribute a subtle dark oak tannin complexity. Dry and complex, master distiller Enrique Fonseca has released this selection at 43% ABV as the optimal proof for this intriguing 15 year tequila.