Act of Treason has today been revealed as the brand identity for Top Shelf International’s ambitious agave spirits project.
Top Shelf has planted more than 500,000 blue weber agaves at its Eden Lassie farm in the Whitsundays region of Far North Queensland, with one million to be planted by the end of 2024.
‘Tequila’ and ‘mezcal’ are protected designations of origin, so Top Shelf has previously toyed with using ‘ozcal’ as the identity for its Australian riff on agave spirits.
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But Top Shelf agave president Trent Fraser said it had settled on ‘Act of Treason’ as more appropriate for the disruptive venture, which is the largest single estate agave plantation outside Mexico.
“Our mission is to create a stunning, regionally-expressive, Australian terroir driven spirit to the world and we are already feeling a buzz of excitement about creating this new agave spirits category,” Fraser said.
“Engagement with key domestic and international retail and major hospitality groups has already begun and we are working on new and innovative ways to engage our trade partners in this trailblazing project.
“Our portfolio will contain the agave classic expressions but with TSI’s trademark appetite for rule breaking. Consumers also should expect to see some bold innovations as we push the limits,” said Fraser.
TSI is offering retail and hospitality partners the opportunity to become involved with the project by securing their own ‘Field of Treason’, similar to how individuals were able to obtain a row of plants by purchasing an Australian Agave NFT.
“This is a pioneering initiative that will allow partners to reserve an exclusive plot of agave in advance of the launch which TSI will grow, nurture and harvest on their behalf under the Act of Treason brand,” the company said.
“A number of different fields of varying sizes are available.”
Fraser said he was thrilled with the health and progress of the agave plants.
“We were delighted with the results that showed an acceleration of the sugar level and overall plant health and growth compared to our last trial six months ago,” he said.
“But as with all agronomy projects of this nature, the plants will tell us when they are ready for harvest,” he said.
Act of Treason will join NED Australian Whiskey and Grainshaker Vodka in the Top Shelf spirits portfolio.
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