Inspired in Mexico

Leonista, which means ‘Lion energy or Lion Person’, is the first 100% Karoo agave spirit made in the traditional Mexican way…

Our production process follows an age-old recipe used in Mexico to make Agave spirits like Mezcal. It requires smoke and fire, hence Leonista has a delicious smoky flavour similar to a Mezcal. Our founder, Sarah Kennan, went to Mexico on a research tour and learnt the process from the maestro distillers there.

Since it is not made in Mexico it cannot be called Mezcal or Tequila (by legal definition). Still, it is essentially a local Agave Spirit (or ‘mezcal’ by historical definition) made using sustainable, organic, South African, Karoo agave that has been growing there for hundreds of years and has become naturalised to the region.

We aspire to focus on increased sustainability in the agricultural system for the South African Karoo Agave, and we ensure the biodiversity of our agave by planting three for every one harvested.

In Mexico, three main types of agave are used to produce agave spirits, such as Tequila and Mezcal. The most notorious of these, “Tequila”, is derived from the Agave Tequilana (or ‘Blue Weber Agave’) while the majority of mezcal currently produced in Mexico is derived from ‘Agave Angustifolia’, resulting in an expression known as “Espadín”.

Leonista is produced from the ‘Agave Americana’ variant, which traditionally produces an agave spirit referred to by its Mexican name, “Arroqueño”, and results in a unique flavour profile for Leonista 100% Karoo agave spirits. Arroqueños are known for their floral, even vegetal flavour, but seem to often have spicy bitter chocolate notes.

The harnessing of fire & smoke whilst baking/roasting, and the complexities of the natural yeasts during the crushing and fermentation stages of the production process lead to a unique and smoky, flavour profile. In addition - our resting process gives our reposado variants even more, if slightly sweeter, character, that contains wooden undertones and a broader variety of flavours.

SEE OUR SPIRITS

Crafted in Africa

As it takes about 12 years for our average agave to be ready for harvesting, our spirits are extremely terroir-driven…

This time, and the requisite seasons, drawing minerals from the earth, as well as the natural accessibility to the local biodiversity of our vast agave crop, and the local flora, culminates in the opportunity for the highlighting of the characteristically earthy flavour in our agave spirits.

Once we remove the leaves by hand we take the agave bulb (or piña, as it’s know in Mexico), and bake it in a wood-fired oven, where we smoke the agave for 48 hours. This turns the starches into sugars and gives our spirits their distinct smoky flavour.

After the baking process, we take the agave out, crush it to extract the juices, ferment it, distil it and then bottle it - in the case of our Blanco. For our Reposados, we age them for 3-6 months in American Oak Barrels; before our Honey Reposado is finally infused with Raw African Honey - for those who prefer to savour an even sweeter finish.

What further sets us apart, from other agave spirits, is that our oak barrels were previously used to produce a local South African brandy, which gives our Reposados their uniquely African touch.