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Guadalajara Cathedral twin spires over the city centre under a blue sky
ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA

Jalisco

Jalisco, the home of tequila: distillery tours with tastings in the town of Tequila, 340 to 585 pesos, with access tips.

  • 1culinary experience

Culinary experiences in Jalisco

Blue agave field with the Tequila volcano under a bright sky in JaliscoJuan Carlos Fonseca Mata, CC BY-SAProducer visit1 to 1.5 hours

Distillery tours in Tequila, Jalisco

Two distillery tours with tastings in the town of Tequila: Casa Sauza from 340 pesos and Jose Cuervo’s La Rojeña at 585 pesos, one hour to an hour and a half.TequilaView

Cities and towns in Jalisco

Rows of blue agave in red soil below Tequila volcanoJavier Salazar Villagomez, CC BY-SA1 listing

Tequila

Distillery tours in Tequila, Jalisco

Map of Jalisco

Jalisco is a state of western Mexico, on the Pacific coast, with Guadalajara as its capital. Tequila takes its name from the town of Tequila, and the agave landscape around it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Two distilleries in the town are compared in this guide, with tours and tastings from 340 to 585 pesos.

Getting around

Guadalajara has the state’s main international airport. Tequila is north-west of the city.

Jalisco, home of the Tequila appellation

Tequila has had an appellation of origin since Mexico’s General Declaration of Protection was published in the Official Gazette on 9 December 1974, says the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT). Article 156 of the Intellectual Property Law defines where it may be made: 181 municipalities across five states, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Nayarit and Tamaulipas.

  • One plant only is permitted: the blue agave, Agave tequilana Weber.
  • The CRT describes the zone’s climate as mainly temperate with moderate rainfall, on varied soils with a pH between 5.5 and 7.

Who checks a bottle of tequila

The Consejo Regulador del Tequila, founded on 17 May 1994, is a non-profit body that brings together everyone in the agave-tequila chain: agave growers, tequila producers, bottlers, distributors, traders and government. Production follows the Official Mexican Standard NOM-006-SCFI-2012. The CRT’s head office is in Zapopan, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, and it keeps a regional office in the town of Tequila.

The appellation marked its first 50 years in 2024, and the CRT reports that more than 1,300 agave growers now hold its Socially Responsible Agave certification.