The Finca 18 Story
150 YEARS AGO...
Arrival
The amibitous Señor Sanchez arrived from Spain to Puerto Vallarta, the town formerly known as Las Peñas.
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Señor Sanchez eventually met and married beautiful native where they started a family and farm.
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They eventually found themselves very wealthy however the wealth had dissolved over the generations.
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The Sanchez family is attributed to founding the small pueblo of Last Palmas de Arriba just 10 minutes up the foot of the mountain from Finca 18.
EL CAMINO REAL
Burried Treasure
Legend has it that there under a certain palm tree lies buried treasure from the days on the El Camino Real, The Royal Road.
This road was used to take silver down from the mine in San Sebastian del Oeste to the port of Vallarta.
One day some criminals were coming down and fleeing in a hurry from up the mountains through the Cuale Mining company, with a cargo full of money, obviously they had stolen it and the soldiers were on their heels.
It is said that on their way through what today is Finca 18, the criminals left their loot buried never to be found.
DR. HERIBERTO SANCHEZ
Purchase of the Ranch
Enter Dr. Heriberto Sanchez. He grew up in Las Palmas de Arriba extremely poor. However he had that same ambitiousness that the original Señor Sanchez had.
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The young Heriberto became a doctor providing care to the people of Las Palmas de Arriba and supported by his wife Yolanda, started a taxi company in the 1970's during the golden age of Puerto Vallarta.
In 1995, the doctor fell so in love with the ranch that he traded a family member a few taxi permits for the 12 acre parcel.
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He went on to start an enourmous restaurant on the property called La Estancia San Sebastian which served 600 locals per weekend.
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On December 27th, 2021 he died from bone cancer at the age of 63. A portion of his ashes remain in a mausoleum on the ranch which he loved so dearly.
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FINCA 18
Establishment
Shortly after the passing of Dr. Heriberto Sanchez the family needed to figure out what to do with the 10-year abandoned ranch that was left to them.
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In 2022, the old restaurant was transformed into a fully functioning distillery and called Finca 18. Born out of the family's love for tequila and the realization that a proper agave spirits distillery simply did not exist in Puerto Vallarta.
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With the help of Greg Rutkowski, an agave spirits aficionado, Finca 18 brings superior agave spirits experiences to those looking for something real, off the beaten path, and away from all of the tourist traps.
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