The story of Don Julio tequila begins in 1942 when a 17-year-old Don Julio González went into the tequila-making business with the help of a loan from a local businessman. In 1957, La Primavera Distillery was built in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Today, Don Julio tequila is still handcrafted at that very same distillery from 100% blue Weber agaves that grow for 7 to 10 years before the piñas are harvested by the jimadores.
After sharing his vision with a local businessman, he's granted a loan to start his first tequila distillery, La Primavera, in the Jaliscan Highlands.
For the next forty years, Don Julio González would devote his life to making the world's finest tequila. Each day he'd wake up early to walk along the agave fields, cutting the grass around each individual plant to protect it. With a coal in hand, he'd carve flavor from every piña, expertly balancing the bitter and sweet leaves of each agave. And when it came time to harvest, he'd harvest each plant one by one, picking only the agaves at optimum maturity and health.
Sitting 6500 feet above sea level, the highland of Jalisco is where it all began. It's in this extreme climate, surrounded by rich volcanic soil, where the legendary distillery of La Primavera was founded and Don Julio Tequila was born.
The Jaliscan Highland's warm days, cool nights, and rich clay soil create the perfect microclimate for the cultivation of blue agave. However, its high altitude makes it difficult and physically demanding to farm and harvest crops. Don Julio González knew this but stayed in the highlands, and endured the extreme conditions so he could create the world's finest tequila. His devotion to his craft truly knew no limits. The result? A tequila with exceptional substance and indisputable spirit.
Since 1947, over three generations of the Jimador families have worked with Don Julio. Their devotion to Don Julio's process and methods is unmatched and their mastery in planting, farming, and harvesting agave have been passed on for generations and can be traced back to Don Julio himself.
Instead of harvesting entire agave fields at once, our Jimadors painstakingly harvest plant by plant, expertedly assessing the age and health of every agave. To increase the quality of their harvest, they handpick and uniformly hand cut the agave pencas (leaves) from the piña. Without the devotion and care of our legendary Jimadors, our tequila's exceptional quality wouldn't be possible.
