A Passionate Pedigree.
Over four generations, we have been hard at work. Perfecting the art and craft of growing agave and distilling tequila. To this day, we instill age-old processes and values handed down from generation to generation. So every sip and every bottle represents the continuation of the very legacy we’ve worked so hard to create.
Rodolfo González
Just like his father, and his father’s father, Rodolfo is a very hands-on Master Distiller. Passionately overseeing the entire process from field to bottle, and ensuring every drop that leaves his distillery is nothing short of perfection.
Rodolfo’s son Paul and daughter Graciela represent the fourth generation of González distillers and the continuation of the family legacy.
A Land That Yearns To Flourish.
The art and craft of making tequila starts with Weber Blue Agave that can only be grown in the rocky soil of Jalisco, Mexico. So we secured the most fertile and fruitful Jalisco earth we could find and nurture it daily to ensure its richness for generations to come.
A Journey to Perfection.
Our process doesn’t accommodate a budget, or lighten the load on our backs. It’s a painstaking labor of love, and the only means to crafting the perfect tequila.
Soil
Cultivation
Harvesting
Cooking
Fermentation
Distillation
Aging
Bottling
Serving
Take the Journey.
Strong Beginnings
To make the best tequila, you need the best agave. And to grow the best agave, you need the perfect conditions. That’s why our agave is only grown in the rocky volcanic soil of our Jalisco estate. Yielding a higher sugar content and a superior product.
Hand Cultivated
After the agave is strategically placed and planted, we continue to nurture and care for each and every plant for upwards of seven years. Waiting until it’s perfectly matured and ready for distillation.
Individually Selected
Once ready, the agave is hand selected and harvested by a jimador with a tool called a coa. Taking the heart, or piña, of the plant and leaving the rest as compost. This keeps the land fertile and ready to support more agave after a year of rest.
Slow Cooked
The selected agave hearts go straight from our fields to our distillery. Where they’re chopped, stacked and endure a 24-hour, chemical-free cooking process, using autoclaves rather than ovens for cleanliness and taste. The cooked agave is then shredded and gently pressed to obtain its juice and retain the full agave flavor.
Fermentation
The agave juice is then fermented using a highly guarded, family-owned yeast strain. Converting the sugars we’ve worked so hard to attain in our agave into alcohol.
In its Purest Form
During our double distillation process, we use a combination of heat and pressure in copper-lined pots to extract the richest part of the spirit and preserve its flavor. Once completed, this process yields our blanco offering. Which can be either bottled as-is, or aged to become reposado, añejo or extra añejo.
Aged Gracefully
We believe good things come to those who wait. And our tequila is meticulously aged to perfection in American white oak barrels, and often well beyond industry standards – from nine months to upwards of three-and-a-half years. It’s a patient process, but provides an end that’s well worth the means.
Carefully Contained
Our finished tequilas are bottled in our family-owned, particle-free bottling facility. We rinse each bottle with tequila before filling to provide a consistent taste, and hand-apply each label. By this point, each and every bottle has endured over one hundred individual quality checks. Ensuring everything that leaves our facility is nothing short of flawless.
Sip and Savor
This arduous process culminates with you, and how you enjoy our tequila best. Hopefully, meeting the hands and seeing the labor that go into crafting each and every bottle of El Mayor® will help you to appreciate it even more.
Recipes
Our Ambassadors
Javier Emilio San Martin
A seven-year veteran of the tequila industry, Javier is well equipped to share the nuances that make El Mayor so special, and reintroduce tequila as a whole.
Graciela González Cortes
As part of the fourth generation of González distillers, Graciela knows firsthand the care that goes into crafting El Mayor. And she takes pride in sharing her family’s legacy.
