For over a decade, Jacob Lustig managed the tequila and mezcal portfolio of the largest liquor distributor in the United States. Lustig has had a lifetime of experience in the tequila industry: as a child, his family moved back and forth between San Francisco and Oaxaca, Mexico. Later, as a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Lustig studied the history of the Mexican liquor business.

"My passion for nuanced and unique agave spirits began in southern Mexico during the early 1990s," says Jacob, "when I renovated a centuries-old Oaxacan mezcal distillery after concluding an intensive study of regional mezcal distillation and its myriad production configurables." As the manager of a tequila and mezcal portfolio, "I was able to work closely with over forty of Jalisco's finest tequila distilleries."

Selección ArteNOM Tequila is the first and only company authorized by the Tequila Regulatory Council to bottle tequilas from different distilleries and release them under a single brand name. "A prevailing regulation in the tequila industry specifically prohibits the bottling of any brand in multiple locations, in order to assure aficionados consistent flavor and quality in their preferred mark," says Jacob, but after years of working with the Tequila Regulatory Council, Jacob was granted permission. Gratefully, the Selección ArteNOM Tequilas are now being applauded in both Mexico and the United States.

ArteNOM Selección de 1146 Tequila Añejo is produced by master distiller Enrique Fonseca at Casa Tequileña (elevation: 1689m). Fonseca is a fifth-generation master distiller, and is celebrated for owning one of the largest agave plantations in the Los Altos region. His tequila is distilled twice, first through stainless steel pot stills and then again through copper-pot stills. Sixty percent of Selección ArteNOM 1146 Tequila Añejo was matured for two years in French oak, while the remainder was matured in French oak for three years. Then, the tequilas were expertly married together and aged for an additional year in used American white oak casks. By layering American oak on a French oak base, Fonseca "achieves a comfortable, familiar finish with unparalleled, underlying complexity," says Lustig. Selección ArteNOM 1146 Tequila Añejo has notes of toasted almonds and creamy vanilla, which are followed by layers of dried fruit and baking spices. The long, earthy finish is complemented by hints of vanilla, caramel and oak.

Selección ArteNOM Tequila is the only project of its kind.