NOT AVAILABLE THIS YEAR (2010)
500 ml Jaén, Andalusia, Spain

First Day of Harvest
The Arbequino comes in a slim, handsome brown glass bottle with a rounded-off square shape that's pleasant to grip. The simple, clean label states "Family Reserve," and it's made from 100% Arbequina olives rather than a blend.

2009 Tasting Notes
Beginning with the very pleasant nose, this oil has a buttery start followed by smooth olive flavor and a good peppery finish in the back of the throat, but without bitterness. In many ways more mellow than many oils from Italy or California, this Spanish oil and others like it may be the next big thing.

About the Producer
Based in Andalusia, Castillo de Canena is a family-run company committed to producing superior extra-virgin olive oil. From start to finish, the Vañó family supervises every element of the olive oil-making process: cultivating, milling, storing and packaging the best of the harvest.

The Arbequino Family Reserve
For generations, the family has followed the tradition of reserving the best of each olive variety's harvest for private use, making a special "Family Reserve." Castillo de Canena now shares it, in limited and numbered editions, with all those who enoy a particularly fine extra virgin oil.

Although the Arbequina olive is usually associated with Catalonia, it is also found in other parts of Spain, including the Balearic Islands, Extremadura and Andalusia. The fruit is small and round, and the tree of medium size, and with very dark-green leaves.