“Jose Cuervo” is not only the oldest, but also the best-selling brand of tequila, 35% of the world market for this alcoholic drink is the production of Jose Cuervo. The company produces 72 million liters of tequila annually. It took more than two hundred years of hard work to achieve such success.
Jose Cuervo tequila has a particularly mild taste, so many bartenders advise it to beginners for the first try. Elite varieties are produced according to ancient technologies, using a two-ton millstone, hewn from volcanic basalt – tezontl. They knead fleshy piñas steamed in the oven (huge “cones” of ripe agave), after processing, the fermented juice acquires a velvety taste with a hint of lemon peel.
José Cuervo’s products have won prizes at the most prestigious world exhibitions many times. Thus, the best of the brands, Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Extra Añejo, was awarded at the competitions: Agave Spirits Challenge in 2008, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles and International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2009.
Types of tequila Jose Cuervo
The company produces the following brands of tequila with a strength of 38%:
Especial Silver – a young colorless tequila with a smoky agave aroma, rich taste and a short aftertaste;
Especial Reposado is a light golden tequila that is aged for 4-6 months in oak barrels. Aroma – fresh, rich agave, with an admixture of oak, vanilla and spices. The taste is balanced: vanilla sweetness is balanced by oak bitterness. You can drink this tequila either traditionally, with lime, salt and a pinch of dried ginger, or with a piece of orange sprinkled with cinnamon;
Tradicional Reposado is a premium tequila, made according to ancient technology using a stone millstone, and consists of 100% blue agave juice. The drink acquires a pale straw color due to two months of aging in oak barrels. Tequila is fragrant with agave and freshly cut grass, tropical spices are felt in the taste and aftertaste;
Clasico is a colorless, crystal clear blend of young tequila and agave spirit six months old. The drink has a sweetish-agave taste and aroma of lemon peel;
Black Medallion Añejo is a reddish amber tequila that, after double distillation, is aged for a year in charred oak barrels. This explains its unusual smoky vanilla aroma. Taste – agave, with a spicy tinge and a slightly astringent oak flavor;
Reserva de la Familia Extra Añejo is a copper-golden tequila made from 100% blue agave juice. Made by hand, it is a blend of tequila aged in oak barrels for three years and agave alcohol aged thirty years. The recipe for this drink was created by Jose Antonio Cuervo himself, but was kept a secret for a long time. For the first time this tequila went on sale in 1995, to commemorate the company’s bicentennial. Each bottle is numbered and packaged in a beautiful natural wood box. Packaging design is developed by the most famous artists and updated annually. In the complex aroma of the drink, one can distinguish apple, nutty, caramel tones with an admixture of cinnamon and oak smells. Taste – agave-vanilla, with hints of melon, roasted almonds and a spicy cognac aftertaste;
Reserva de la Familia Platino is a super premium colorless tequila made by hand according to an old recipe. The drink consists of 100% blue agave juice, is a blend of tequilas of various aging periods. All bottles are numbered. This tequila has an extremely original smell, in which caramel-vanilla and anise shades are complemented by oak and even mineral notes. The taste is spicy, with exquisite peppery-clove bitterness and an orange aftertaste.
History of Tequila Jose Cuervo
In 1758, José Antonio Cuervo y Valdes, using a royal patent for cultivating the land, bought the estate – the hacienda Cofradia de las Animas, and built a small distillery on his site to produce local alcohol from agave juice. The business turned out to be so profitable that in 1795 his son, José Maria Guadalupe de Cuervo, received a license from the Spanish king, expanded his father’s business and started producing Casa de Сuervo mezcal. This year is considered to be the founding date of the company, which was assigned a long and glorious path by fate.
In 1812, José María died, leaving the vast blue agave plantations to his son José Ignacio and the distillery to his daughter, Maria Magdalena. Her husband, Vincento Albino Rojas, renamed the distillery after himself, calling it La Rojeña.
Don Jose Ignacio proved to be no less diligent master than his grandfather and father. He greatly expanded his father’s plantations, so that more than three million agave bushes grew on his lands. But after his death, the business of the family company was not going well, and soon it had to be sold to the businessman Jesus Flores. Subsequently, one of the impoverished heirs, Jose Ignacio, was even forced to get a job as a manager for the new owner.
Flores fully appreciated the benefits of using the railroads. He was the first in Mexico to bottle tequila not in barrels, but in bottles, and export the drink outside the country.
Jesus Flores only a few years did not live to see the beginning of the 1900th century. The company and the impressive fortune were inherited by his widow. In those days, it was not customary for a woman to do business. It would have been bad for a lonely señora if there had not been a faithful manager nearby – José Cuervo Labastida. In XNUMX they got married, and the company again returned to the descendants of its founder. From then until now, representatives of the Cuervo family own the world’s largest tequila company.