Jose Cuervo Tequila

IF YOU’VE EVER BEEN AFRAID OF TEQUILA YOURSELF, DON’T PANIC, YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE. IN 1795, LONG BEFORE THE SPANISH REVOLUTION, THE RULING SPANISH CONQUISTADORES WERE AFRAID OF THE POWER TEQUILA WOULD HAVE AND SWIFTLY BANNED IT. THAT COULD HAVE BEEN THE END OF THIS VERSATILE SPIRIT AS WE KNOW IT, BUT ONE TENACIOUS YOUNG MAN REFUSED TO LET THE LIQUID DIE. HIS NAME? JOSE MARIA GUADALUPE DE CUERVO. THE FIRST PERSON TO HAVE PERMISSION TO MAKE AND SELL TEQUILA.

While the agave hearts are certainly put to good use in the form of tequila, what happens to the leaves after they are removed during harvesting? Not to be wasted, the leaves have many uses once discarded. Some are converted into a rich fertiliser and ploughed back into the 12 acres of compost to produce further crops of agave, while some fibres are even used to make agave paper and cookies for local families.

ABOVE: Once the Jimadors have used a coa to remove the flowers from the agave, they then cut off all the leaves, leaving only the piñas for production.

OPPOSITE: Every drop of Jose Cuervo Tequila is tested to ensure a superior spirit that the man himself would be proud of. AFTER STARTING WITH A MODEST 100 agave plants, Jose Cuervo’s land has grown to produce millions over the past 250 years and is currently the largest agave holdings in the world.

Originally, Jose rallied something of an underground tequila movement with fellow enthusiasts to make his own unique version at La Rojeña distillery, now developed into the number one tequila in the world, steeped in history and still made by Jose Cuervo’s descendants.

To create the premium spirit that ends up in a bottle adorned with the Cuervo name, it all still begins with the agave plant. After maturing on the Tequila Volcano for seven years, the agave plants are harvested, and their cores (or piñas) are sent to the La Rojeña distillery; 400 tonnes a day.

Then roasted for 40 hours and cooled for 14 hours in an Adobe oven. The oven imparts a unique flavour to the piñas and helps convert the starches into fermentable sugar.

After the piñas have cooked, they are taken to four mills to be ground and the juice is extracted and separated from the ‘bagasse’. The juice, known as must, is sent to fermentation tanks for roughly 50 to 60 hours, before going through a rigorous process of distillation, condensation and rectification to produce drinkable white tequila.

The spirit must then age slowly in toasted wooden barrels to develop a distinct flavour and character. Depending on the flavour profile of the tequila that is being produced, the barrels are toasted to different levels: light, medium, and strong. While sitting in these barrels, the spirit matures and takes in the flavour and aromas of the wood before it is finished and ready to be enjoyed. ❧

The Three Amigos, an American Western comedy where three film stars identity is mistaken for real heros in a small Mexican village. In this scene the Three Amigos, played by Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), Lucky Day (Steve Martin) and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) walk into a bar requesting three beers, but they only serve tequila.