La Nopalera Ranch in nacori Chico, Sonora has produced agave spirits since its inception by DON REGUGIO PORTILLO in 1905. However, the connection between people, land, and plant dates back thousands of years to the indigenous opata culture. Though the opata now exist mostly scattered among small communities along the río sonora and río bavispe watersheds and through legacy placenames like Huasabas and sinoquipe, the plant-human symbiosis endures through Don Refugio’s great-grandson José Luis Portillo.

unbeknownst to most agave aficionados, Sonora has some of the richest agave diversity in all of Mexico, behind only oaxaca and jalisco, particularly in paniculate (multi-branched flower stem) agave. From this richness, jose luis harvests agave angustifolia, (pacifica) to produce bacanora as well as agave shrevei to produce lechuguilla and dasylirion wheeleri to produce palmilla.

due to the relatively underdeveloped infrastructure, rugged terrain, and arid climate, like on the western slopes of the sierra madre occidental can often be a difficult one. due to this hard-scrabble existence and the availability of economic opportunity in far-off destinations, many communities are decline, putting local customs and northern ranchero culture at risk. Los cantiles and their import partners cordon distributors are committed to working to preserving pieces of this vanishing cultural heritage like music, art, and of course some of the best agave spirits produced in the state of sonora.