The Appellation of Origin TEQUILA: Mexican Official Standard
Tequila is present in more than 120 countries around the world, where 55 countries grant international protection registration. The main countries where tequila arrives are the United States; Germany; Spain; France; Japan; Canada; and the United Kingdom.
Mexican Official Standard (NOM) refers to the Appellation of Origin TEQUILA, whose ownership corresponds to the Mexican State under the terms of the Industrial Property Law. The issuance of this NOM is necessary, under point 2 of the General Declaration of Protection to the Appellation of Origin "TEQUILA", published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on October 13, 1977 (hereinafter referred to as "the Declaration") and with section XV of article 40 of the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization.
Objective
This NOM establishes the characteristics and specifications that must be met by authorized users to produce, bottle, and/or market tequila, according to the process described below.
Scope of application
This NOM applies to the alcoholic beverage subject to the process detailed below, with agaves of the Tequilana Weber species, Azul variety, grown in the states and municipalities indicated in the Declaration. For this NOM, the following definitions are established in alphabetical order.
Flavoring
Procedure to soften the flavor of tequila by adding one or more of the following ingredients: caramel color, natural oak or oak extract, glycerin, and sugar-based syrup. The use of any of these ingredients should not exceed 1% of the total weight of the tequila before bottling. The coloration resulting from this process should be yellowish.
A plant of the Amaryllidaceae family, with long, fibrous, lanceolate leaves, a bluish-green odor, whose usable part for tequila production is the pineapple or head. The only species admitted for the effects of this NOM, is the Tequilana Weber, a blue variety, which has been cultivated within the zone indicated in the Declaration.
Good manufacturing practices
A set of interrelated standards and activities designed to ensure that products have and maintain the specifications required for consumption.
Tequila aging
A slow transformation that allows the product to acquire the desired organoleptic characteristics, by physicochemical processes that in the natural form take place during its permanence in oak or oak wood containers.
Unit operations
These are the stages of the tequila production process, in which the raw materials undergo chemical, biochemical, and physical changes until a specific product is obtained in each one of them. There are the following basic stages of this process Jima, Hydrolysis, Extraction, Fermentation, Distillation, Aging, if applicable, and bottling.
Regional alcoholic beverage obtained by distillation and rectification of musts, prepared directly and originally from the extracted material, within the factory facilities, derived from the milling of ripe agave heads, previously or subsequently hydrolyzed or cooked, and subjected to alcoholic fermentation with yeast.
Cultivated or not, is susceptible to be enriched by other sugars up to a proportion of no more than 49%, in the understanding that cold blends are not allowed. Tequila is a liquid that, according to its type, is colorless or yellowish when matured in oak or oak wood containers, or when it is bottled without aging.
When this NOM refers to the term "Tequila", it is understood that it applies to the two categories indicated in chapter "classification", unless there is a specific mention of "100% agave tequila" or "100% pure agave tequila".
Tequila blanco (White tequila)
Product whose commercial alcoholic graduation must be adjusted with dilution water.
Tequila joven y oro (Young and gold tequila)
Product susceptible to be flavored, whose commercial alcoholic strength must, if necessary, be adjusted with dilution water. The result of blends of tequila blanco with reposados and/or añejos tequilas are considered young and gold tequila.
Tequila reposado (Rested tequila)
Product susceptible to being flavored, which is left for at least two months in oak or oak wood containers, and whose commercial alcoholic graduation must, if necessary, be adjusted with dilution water. In blends of different reposado tequilas, the age for the resulting tequila is the weighted average of the ages and volumes of its components.
Tequila añejo (Aged tequila)
Product susceptible to be flavored, subject to an aging process of at least one year in oak or oak wood containers, with a maximum capacity of 600 liters, and with commercial alcoholic graduation that must, if necessary, be adjusted with dilution water. In blends of different añejo tequilas, the age for the resulting tequila is the weighted average of the ages and volumes of its components.
Classification
Categories. The percentage of sugars coming from the Agave used in the elaboration of Tequila can be classified into one of the following categories:
"100% Agave Tequila" or "100% Pure Agave Tequila"
The product obtained from the distillation and rectification of musts, directly and originally prepared from the extracted material, within the factory facilities, derived from the grinding of mature agave heads, previously or subsequently hydrolyzed cooked, and submitted to alcoholic fermentation with yeast, cultivated or not. For this product to be considered as "100% agave tequila" or "100% pure agave tequila", it must be bottled in the bottling plant controlled by the manufacturer, which must be located within the appellation of origin zone.
