A chat with the man behind Patron’s game-changing recipe

By Erin Ryan

Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011 | 5:53 p.m.

Francisco Alcaraz has such a good nose he can smell rain coming. Most chemical engineers don’t need such keen senses, but this one was recruited out of college to work in Mexico’s flagship industry—tequila.

More than 40 years later, Alcaraz is master distiller for Patrón, an international super-brand that still uses the recipe he created for American entrepreneurs Martin Crowley and John Paul DeJoria in 1989. At that time, the ultra-premium tequila category didn’t exist, and they approached Alcaraz about making a better product.

“There was a saying, that drinking tequila is like swallowing a cat,” he says, swirling a glass of honey-colored Gran Patrón Burdeos before inhaling deeply and taking a long drink. “This is very smooth.”

That smoothness is the result of Alcaraz’s mastery of fermentation and distillation, achieved over many years and through experiences as a tequila inspector for Mexico’s Industry and Commerce Department, a distillery production manager, a freelance consultant to some of the region’s top tequila producers and head of a Jalisco technical university’s industrial fermentation department.

Given his reputation in Mexico, Crowley and DeJoria picked the right person to bring their vision of a super-high quality tequila to life. With the blend Alcaraz perfected, they produced 1,000 cases of Patrón in 1989. Today, the brand leads the ultra-premium category worldwide. That’s why a shot of Gran Patrón Burdeos can cost close to $100 at a bar on the Strip, though Alcaraz says adventures in fine tequila are available for much less. He recommends Patrón Silver, which is enjoyable straight and in cocktails such as a classic mojito or a Paloma made with fresh grapefruit juice.

“It’s very personal, the way you drink any tequila,” he says. “I cannot be like a dictator about what’s good.”

He is a dictator about Patrón’s handmade process, though he admits it’s both science and art. It starts with agave, a member of the lily family often mistaken for cactus. Patrón is made with Weber Blue agave, hand-harvested from the rich volcanic soil of Jalisco’s highlands after maturing for about eight years until the sugar level is just right.

The hearts of the plants, called piñas, are then cooked in small masonry ovens. The ovens have remained small, as have the fermenters and stills, even while Patrón rapidly expanded to meet demand.

“Rather than automating and making things bigger, we cloned the process, so we have 12 factories under one roof,” Alcaraz says. “This way we are always making small batches by hand, so the tequila has the same flavor that has been there since the beginning.”

After the piñas have cooked for 79 hours, they are macerated in a process called tahona, in which a large stone wheel slowly crushes out the juice. The juice then is fermented in pine casks, and Alcaraz and his team of expert distillers keep close eyes (and noses) on its progress.

When it’s ready, the liquid is transferred to copper pot stills for distillation and fine filtering. And Alcaraz personally tastes each batch, as he has from day one.

“Our process is unique and time-consuming, unlike that of any other tequila,” he says. “It’s what makes Patrón one of the highest-quality luxury spirits in the world.”

Patrón Mojito

Ingredients:

1½ oz. Patrón Silver

6-8 fresh mint leaves

1 cut lime

1 oz. simple syrup

Club soda

Lime wedge

Method:

Muddle mint leaves, cut lime and simple syrup in a tall glass. Add a cup of ice and Patrón Silver and fill the rest with club soda. Shake gently and serve in a glass rimmed with sugar and garnished with the lime wedge.