Agave tequilana F.A.C. Weber - asparagaceae - blue agave, agave azul, tequila agave, Tequila Agave

„Tequila is made only from a specific cultivar of Agave tequilana called 'Weber Azul'. This cultivar is larger and blue-gray in color compared to the smaller and green normal A. tequilana. It is a rapid grower and prolific offsetter in keeping with its agricultural advantages. Tequila is produced by removing the heart (piña) of the plant in its seventh to fourteenth year (depending on growth rate and whims of harvester). Harvested piñas normally weigh 80–200 pounds (40–90 kg). This heart is stripped of its leaves and heated to convert the inulin to sugars. Then the roasted core is pressed or crushed to release the sugary clear liquid called aguamiel, which is, in turn, fermented and distilled into alcohol. Tequila is also made with a sugar formulation 51% agave and 49% other sugars.“
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_tequilana

„Tequila, the fermented and twice-distilled juice of Agave tequilana, was extracted using dichloromethane… On the basis of their detection in the most dilute extracts analyzed, five constituents were determined to be the most powerful odorants of tequila; these were isovaleraldehyde, isoamyl alcohol, β-damascenone, 2-phenylethanol, and vanillin. Efforts at reconstituting tequila flavor from its component parts were not successful, however, indicating that further significant contributors to tequila flavor remain to be identified.“
[Benn, Scot M., and Terry L. Peppard. „Characterization of tequila flavor by instrumental and sensory analysis.“ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 44.2 (1996): 557-566]

„Sample dilution analysis (SDA) is a novel methodology for identifying key odorants in distilled alcoholic beverages by direct injection-gas chromatography-olfactometry (GCO). SDA has the potential to provide accurate key odorant identification with reduced analysis and material costs, while also reducing extraction bias. The methodology was applied to 100% agave añejo tequila, a spirit with distinct organoleptic qualities. Results from SDA and aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) were comparable, and identified 2/3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-phenylethanol, linalool, β-damascenone, guaiacol, 4-ethyl-guaiacol, eugenol, trans-isoeugenol, and vanillin as the key odorants of 100% agave añejo tequila.“
[Lahne, J., Cadwallader, K. (2012): Streamlined analysis of potent odorants in distilled alcoholic beverages: the case of tequila. In: Flavor Chemistry of Wine and Other Alcoholic Beverages. American Chemical Society, 2012, 37-52]

„Samples of non‐mature and añejo (matured) tequila of the same brand/provenance were analysed using GC–MS and gas chromatography olfactometry (GC‐O)/aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) to provide quantitative data on the most odour active compounds that contribute to the aroma of these spirits. Extracts of non‐mature tequila were characterized by 26 odour‐active regions, which included ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, 2‐phenylethyl acetate, β‐damascenone, isoamyl alcohol and octanoic acid as the most odour‐active compounds (flavour dilution, FD, factor ≥ 6561). In contrast, extracts of the mature spirit showed 36 odour‐active zones, where the compounds with the highest FD factors (6561) were ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, 2‐phenylethyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, phenethyl alcohol, guaiacol, 4‐ethyl guaiacol, vanillin, cis/trans whisky lactones, β‐damascenone and octanoic acid. The aromagram of mature tequila was thus differentiated from that of the non‐mature spirit owing to the presence of cask‐extractive compounds and the increased FD factors of certain terpenes, higher alcohols and acetals.“
[González‐Robles, I.W., Cook, D.J.: The impact of maturation on concentrations of key odour active compounds which determine the aroma of tequila. Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 122(3), 2016, 369-380]
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jib.333

from Compound Interest: #NationalTequilaDay: Types and flavour chemistry of tequila