MATACUY, ELIXIR OF THE ANDEANS
In the Sacred Valley, families prepare their own "compuestos" and elixirs to strengthen body and spirit.
Matacuy is the recipe of Wendy Weeks (Destileria Andina), who in the 1980s combined 12 botanicals from El Valle Sagrado to create her own blend.
They grow and distill on an Inca platform (other incaico) in Ollantaytambo. The farm is organic - they work with it by hand and without chemicals, as has been done for hundreds of years.
The complexity and smoothness of Matacuy is born from its process. They are used freshly harvested plants that make slow extractions in environments exposed to large daily temperature changes. They distill copper at 28OO meters, the altitude gives them a low boiling point that extracts the essences and
vegetable oils without burning them. All processes are slow and natural, they do not add sugar, dyes or flavors. The sweetness and the taste of
Matacuy comes from the essence of botanical ingredients.
Matacuy is the healing spirit of the Andes, blessing the end of the meal and bringing joy.
Sugar cane from the heights of Cusco and Apurimac gives it its spirit. They are reeds exposed to extreme climates in the sierra, old crops and slow growth, watered by glacial water in sunny and dry countries, They give it mineral notes
to Matacuy.
Location
Ollantaytambo, is located in the Sacred Valley - El Valle Sagrado, halfway between Cusco and Machu Picchu. Destileria Andina is located on Inca platforms at the foot of the fortress of Ollantaytambo and on the banks of the river Vilcanota. Destileria Andina aims to highlight the Peruvian tradition and bring to the world the taste of this fertile valley that has been cultivated by thousands of years of self-sufficient agricultural communities.
Bronze Medal - Craft Spirits - Berlin 2O2O
"The best thing I drank in 2019" Alex Delany, Bon Appetit Magazine, New York.
