The World's Oldest Tequila Producer and Best Selling Tequila

The Tequila Brand that invented modern Tequila,

Jose Cuervo is the most commercially successful tequila brand in the world, the oldest continuously operating tequila producer, and the name most closely associated with the denomination in consumers' minds globally. Produced at La Rojena distillery (NOM 1122) in the town of Tequila, Jalisco, the oldest active distillery in Latin America, Cuervo sits at the intersection of history and scale in a way no other tequila house can claim. The family that owns it has been making tequila on the same land since 1812, and the permit that launched the enterprise, issued by the Spanish Crown in 1795, is widely regarded as the first commercial licence ever granted for the production of what we now call tequila.

The brand spans a wide portfolio, from the world-famous Cuervo Especial gold tequila that has introduced generations of drinkers to the category, to the hand-crafted, limited-release Reserva de la Familia Extra Añejo that demonstrates what the family's oldest distillery can produce at its most serious. Understanding Jose Cuervo means understanding both ends of that spectrum and appreciating the history that connects them.

The Cuervo story begins in 1758, when Jose Antonio de Cuervo y Valdes was granted land near the town of Tequila by King Ferdinand VI of Spain. The grant included a distillery, and the Cuervo family immediately recognised the potential of the Blue Weber agave that grew on the volcanic lowland soils around Tequila. It was Jose Antonio's son, Jose Maria Guadalupe Cuervo, who secured the landmark that defines the brand's place in history: in 1795, King Carlos IV of Spain issued Jose Maria the first official licence to produce mezcal de Tequila commercially, the direct ancestor of what the denomination now regulates as tequila. No other producer can claim a longer or more formally documented history in the category.

In 1812, the family established La Rojena distillery in the town of Tequila, the physical site that has anchored production ever since. The distillery's name refers to the red stone from which it was originally built, and its walls have witnessed every significant chapter of Mexican history from the War of Independence through to the present day. By 1873, barrels of Cuervo tequila were reaching California, decades before the railway made exports routine, and the brand had begun the international journey that would eventually make it the most recognised tequila name on earth.

The twentieth century brought the Beckmann family into the ownership story. Juan Beckmann Gallardo, a descendant of German immigrants who had married into the Cuervo lineage, inherited the company upon the death of his relative Guadalupe Gallardo in 1964, and his son Juan Beckmann Vidal assumed control in 1970. The Beckmanns are now in their eleventh generation of involvement with the brand, and the family has remained fiercely independent despite sustained pressure to sell. In 2012, Diageo entered into 18 months of intense negotiations to acquire Jose Cuervo at a valuation of around three billion dollars. The talks ultimately failed, and in 2013 the Beckmann family's own distribution company, Proximo Spirits, took over the US distribution rights that Diageo had previously held. Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta has led the company since 2013, and the family continues to hold the majority of the business. The Cuervo story remains a family story.

Awards and Recognition

Reserva de la Familia has been the most decorated expression in the Cuervo portfolio at international competitions, winning Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2019 and taking Tequila of the Year at the Bartender Spirits Awards in 2022. The expression has consistently performed well in blind tastings against the finest aged tequilas in the denomination, demonstrating that La Rojena's capabilities extend well beyond the volume categories for which the brand is best known.

The broader recognition of Jose Cuervo is less about individual medals and more about the brand's position in the denomination's history. The 1795 commercial licence, the establishment of La Rojena in 1812, the first exports to California in 1873, and the accumulated two centuries of unbroken production on the same site in the town of Tequila: these represent a form of recognition that no competition can confer. Jose Cuervo did not merely participate in the creation of the tequila category. In a meaningful sense, it is the category.

Style in the Glass

The style of Jose Cuervo depends entirely on which expression is in the glass. Cuervo Especial is approachable, smooth, and versatile, a tequila designed to perform in cocktails and mixed drinks, with a gentle sweetness and a soft finish that makes it the most widely bartended spirit in the category.

Cuervo Tradicional, by contrast, is a genuine 100% agave reposado with the lowland earthiness and herbal character of valley-grown blue agave, softened by its time in American oak into a balanced, accessible spirit that rewards attention as much as it rewards mixing. Reserva de la Familia is a different proposition altogether: a slow-sipping extra anejo with genuine complexity, the depth of dark fruit, almond, and oak that extended ageing produces, and the structure of a spirit made from 100% estate-grown blue agave by a family with 200 years of institutional knowledge. Maestro Dobel offers the family's most contemporary expression of that knowledge, applying precision and innovation to produce blancos and specialty expressions that feel as modern as the brand's history is long.

La Rojena operates ten traditional masonry ovens, each capable of cooking a large volume of agave at a controlled temperature between 92 and 96 degrees Celsius under low pressure. The cook runs for between 36 and 48 hours, depending on the expression being produced, a slow steam process that converts the agave's complex carbohydrates into fermentable sugars and develops the cooked-agave character that defines the house's flavour profile.

Fermentation follows, using proprietary yeast strains developed by the distillery over generations, and runs for between 40 and 50 hours in large fermentation vessels. The use of proprietary yeast is significant: where some producers rely on wild or native yeasts to introduce unpredictable character into the wash, Cuervo's house strains are designed to produce a consistent, reproducible result across the enormous volumes the distillery processes. The fermented wash is then double-distilled before ageing or bottling.

It is worth noting that Jose Cuervo's portfolio includes expressions made to different standards. Cuervo Especial, the gold tequila that is the world's best-selling expression, is a mixto, meaning it is produced from a blend of at least 51% Blue Weber agave sugars and up to 49% other fermentable sugars, in accordance with denomination regulations that permit this classification. The premium expressions, including Cuervo Tradicional and Reserva de la Familia, are produced from 100% Blue Weber agave. Knowing which tier a given Cuervo product falls into is essential information for any buyer.