Blue Agave Distillery Tour: La Noria, MX

Technically, you can't call it Tequila because it is not in one of the three states licensed to officially sell Tequila. However, blue agave is blue agave. Distill it and you get something that looks, smells and tastes like Tequila.

The Los Osuna Blue Agave Distillery just outside of Mazatlan is a very happy place. Getting to the property is easy - follow the signs off highway 15 to La Noria. Just before you enter the town, you'll see the sign to the left. The road from here is dirt, but not too bad overall. You'll pass the canopy zip-line place and keep going to the Distillery.

We arrived before the big tour groups arrived and received a very detailed tour - I noticed the bigger groups didn't get to go through some of the tighter spots in the distillery (probably for safety reasons). The tour provides information on how tequila has been made historically, as well as showcasing the huge newer stainless steel distillers.

Free tequila shots at the end - all you can drink. Total cost? $2.50 a person. Not joking - best value we found in Mazatlan. We tipped our tour guide and the bartender generously. There are a few small shops by the bar and while I didn't buy a thing, everyone else in our party walked away with good prices on silver and titanium jewelry so the bargaining must have been good!

To get a feel for the place, check out the video:



-- TEQUILA!!

** Interesting fun fact: the tequila is 65% alcohol after distillation. They water it down to 35% in order to make it more palatable. I asked our guide if you could sell it at 65% and she laughed at me and said "no". I'm guessing it must just be awful ... either that or gringos can't handle it!