The Real Deal

In Guadalajara, one discovers the rise of luxury tequila Volcan de mi Tierra and the passion in bringing forth the highest expression of the spirit.

- Kenneth Tan

IN THE TRANQUIL mornings, birdsong in rich surround sound reigns at Hacienda La Gavilana, an estate located on the outskirts of Guadalajara, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. The lush acreage of this hacienda is coloured with fields of blue agave, red flowering Tabachines and trees laden with plump limes. Looming in the background is the nearly 3,000m stratovolcano called Tequila, which, together with the nearby town of Tequila, gives the drink its name.

Hacienda La Gavilana also happens to be the homestead of the Gallardo family since 1774. The Gallardo family is, today, joint and equal partners in a 50:50 venture with the LVMH group, producing Volcan de mi Tierra tequila, which rolled out in 2019.

In the present day, the debonair Santiago Cortina Gallardo, the CEO and co-founder of Volcan tequila, hosts visitors at this hacienda where his grandfather was born. Although the family had been producing mezcal (a spirit distilled from any type of agave) for a long time, the inception of Volcan tequila was a relatively more recent affair dating back a decade ago to 2014.

A serendipitous meeting between Santiago’s uncle, Don Juan Gallardo, and various Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) top executives saw the former raise a question as to why the leader of wines and spirits did not yet own a tequila, especially against a growing backdrop of premium tequila and with stories of US$1 billion valuations of other tequila brands. In a further meeting with LVMH owner Bernard Arnault, Don Juan Gallardo struck up terms for a tequila project, under one clear condition and principle, in that “we need to be the best tequila”.