Cape Town agave spirit wins top global gold award

Cape Town's growing craft spirits scene has landed a major international win. Inzalo Agave Spirits Batch One, produced by Hope Spirits, has been awarded a Gold Medal at the Agavos Awards, an international competition dedicated exclusively to agave spirits.  

Founded by the team behind Tequila Matchmaker, the awards are widely regarded as one of the industry's most rigorous competitions thanks to their blind-tasting format and requirement that all entries be purchased anonymously at retail rather than supplied directly by producers.  

A two-year search for the perfect plant

For founders of the local tequila, Diego Avila and Sebastian O'Keefe, together with Lucy Beard and Leigh Lisk of Hope Distillery, the award is about more than a medal. It is validation of a project that began with more than two years of research, road trips and experimentation across South Africa. 

"We spent two and a half years scouting and tasting agave from around the country," says Avila. "We looked at four different species before we found the profile we were looking for." 

That search eventually led them to agave plants growing in the Klein Karoo, roughly three-and-a-half hours from Cape Town near Ladismith. While agave is most commonly associated with Mexico, the plants used in Inzalo have been growing in South Africa for centuries, adapting to local conditions and developing their own characteristics over time.

According to Avila, the region's intense sunlight, mineral-rich soils and harsh growing conditions all contribute to the spirit's distinctive profile.

"The concept isn't very different to wine," he explains. "The plant responds to its environment. The UV exposure, the soil, the stress on the plant – all of those factors contribute to flavour." 

The result is a spirit that has surprised even experienced agave judges. Instead of the flavour profile many associate with tequila, Inzalo presents notes of "butter, salinity and minerality that reflect the plant's long adaptation to South African conditions", according to Lisk. 

The gold medal is also significant because it places a South African agave spirit alongside established international producers at a time when the category is rapidly expanding beyond its traditional borders. While production remains relatively small, with around 5,000 bottles produced to date, the team is already looking ahead to the next chapter. 

Tasting notes from the judges describe Inzalo as having "Sweet juicy pineapple aromas are both ripe and dried. The flavours start with a hit of sea salt, followed by chalky mineral and citrus zest. Finally moving towards a floral and fruity expression. Notes of Vanilla and Pear linger on the finish."    

Rather than replicating traditional tequila production, the Hope Spirits team is experimenting with a series of single-barrel ageing projects inspired by South Africa's wine heritage. Future releases may include expressions matured in barrels that previously held Pinotage and Vin de Constance, for example.

For Avila, a qualified biologist, the agave plants that have been growing in Klein Karoo for over 300 years are of significant cultural importance to the project and represent an opportunity to experiment and create something uniquely South African.  

"We're not trying to make a copy of tequila," he says. "We want to explore what happens when agave meets South African terroir and South African wine culture." With further international competition results still pending, the Agavos gold medal suggests the world is beginning to pay attention. 

And if the founders are right, the Klein Karoo may prove to be one of the most unexpected new frontiers in the global agave story.

Need to know

• Price: Inzalo Agave Spirits Batch One retails for R1,049 per bottle.
• Where to buy it: You can purchase Inzalo directly through the official website: Inzalo Agave Spirits
• Tastings: Book guided tastings to explore the distillery's range of spirits. The tasting room and cocktail lounge operate by appointment. 
• Address: Hope Distillery, 7 Hopkins Street, Salt River, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa. 
• Contact: Tel: +27 21 447 1950 | Email: office@hopedistillery.co.za