Tequila—and its rougher cousin mezcal—have long suffered from a reputation as ferocious firewater. But these Central American spirits are worth a second sip. Over four days in Mexico, cocktail expert Victoria Chow chased down the true meaning of tequila. She tells Charmaine Mok about her epiphany

Tequila may be the favourite of every Saturday night out, but the true expressions of the spirit are virtually unknown outside of Mexico and certain parts of the United States. Very few realise that tequila—which by definition must be made in a specified region near and around the city of Tequila, from 100 per cent blue agave—is simply a style of mezcal with a denomination of origin status. Chow found her lack of understanding of the spirit disconcerting, and so this April she took a journey across the globe to rectify it.
Her first stop was the town of Santiago de Tequila in Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila itself. With a population of just over 40,000, Tequila is a small community that has prospered thanks to José Cuervo, the industry’s dominating producer of tequila. The Cuervo family were the first to be given permission to produce tequila in 1795. Today, José Cuervo owns the sole luxury hotel property in the centre of Tequila—the Relais & Châteaux-rated Solar de las Ánimas—as well as a luxury train linking the state capital of Guadalajara with the town.
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Esta historia es de la edición July 2017 de Philippine Tatler.
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