Former Bacardi CEO Mike Dolan has launched a new business venture, Mijenta, an artisanal small-batch “super premium” tequila brand that uses production by-products to create some of its packaging elements.
Dolan is lead investor and co-founder of Mijenta along with Mexico-based Maestra Tequilera Ana Maria Romera. The brand’s tequila is made from certified Blue Weber Agave from maguey plants: Blanco, the first expression, is said to offer “the purest form of the agave plant.” Reposado, meanwhile, aged up to six months in oak casks, promises “a softer and fuller expression of Mijenta.”
In order to make sustainability a key part of its ethos, Mijenta explains that it opted for local suppliers for the majority of its packaging, the design of which is inspired by the agave fields at the foot of the volcano in Jalisco, Mexico. Bottles are made from locally sourced stock glass–the brand did not want to disclose the names of its suppliers.
Its labels are made of 100% agave by-product transformed into agave paper. “The agave waste, bagass, is dried and then mixed with reclaimed burlap coffee bags order to make the label more resistant as agave paper is thin and breaks easily, while burlap fiber gives tensile strength,” Elise Som, Mijenta Sustainable Designer and Environmental Consultant, tells Luxe Packaging Insight. “Our labels feature smooth tones ranging from off-white to beige. If looked at closely, the imperfections and fibers are visible in the paper, which is certified FSC.”
The secondary packaging is made of 100% consumer-recycled paper and Mijenta says that it “minimized” the weight of the packaging and its use of glue. “The box is uncoated and other than the foil for the rabbit logo, we only chose two colors: pink and green as well as some embossed detailing,” says Som.
Mijenta, currently launching in the US, plans to develop the offer and expand its geographic footprint. Two more products are in the works.
