Back in December, I had the opportunity to speak with Roger Clyne at the Phoenix Tequila Fest regarding his Mexican Moonshine. With his performance coming up at Devoured this weekend, I thought I would share what he had to say.
Taryn Jeffries with Roger Clyne and friend, Sara Morales
At the time of my interview, Roger stated that they were only producing Reposado, though this may change going forward, but Roger stated that Reposado has always been his favorite and felt a stronger desire to start there.
As the son of a Southern Arizona rancher, he was exposed to tequila by the day workers that worked for the ranch. He stated that they often brought their own supplies, and he always found their tequila to be very smooth. During college, 20 years ago, the tequilas that he sampled ‘never came close’.
During performances in Mexico, he had some Cantina owners approach him, telling him that they always sold so much more tequila during his performances and suggested that he create his own Tequila. And so his journey began.
The first batch of Mexican Moonshine resulted in only about 1,000 bottles and was sold out in 6 hours. At the time that I spoke with him, Mexican Moonshine had only been in the market for 2 1/2 months and was available at Top’s Liquor and was being poured at Four Peaks, Dos Gringos and The Salty Senorita among others. You can even order it to be delivered to your doorstep via hitimewine.net. There are several more locations that you can find Mexican Moonshine at this time, all located on the website.
Roger shared with me that, “the product has been received really well and has gotten to stand on its own. At first, I was a little nervous about the fan reaction. I wasn’t sure if they would automatically love it because of me and my history or it the fans would be really judgmental because of that.”
Roger has been incredibly involved in all aspects of the tequila. He received a lot of great support and notes on distilling and things to avoid from Tequila powerhouse Pep Katcher of Cruz Tequila. Roger stated that, “I have had a very intimate relationship with the bottles and have been extremely involved with the glass thickness, making trips to the bottle factory and determining how many bubbles will be in each bottle.”
I wanted to know what he felt that sets his tequila apart from others on the market aside from his name. “It’s really an invisible thing. Any spirit has byproducts that can be dangerous to the environment. My distiller has a degree in Engineering and has come up with a way to use solar energy and certain mechanics that detoxifies and purifies the waste created in the distilling process. I am really proud to support this and I am hoping that once it’s all completed and perfected that it can be used as a tool and demonstrated to other large vendors in the hopes that they will follow suit. We are on a mission to make spirits with a conscience!”
For more information on Roger Clyne’s Mexican Moonshine and locations where you can pick up a bottle visit mexicanmoonshine.com.
For more information on his performance at devoured visit: phxart.org/devoured.