Tap Handle #256: Jose Cuervo - Margarita

Okay, so this one's not a beer tap. But it's still amazing looking, and who doesn't enjoy a little tequila once in awhile? Upon delivery I was disappointed to discover two of the "splashes" are broken off. While it resulted in a refund and a free tap (and is hardly noticeable), it still bugs me. It is pretty to look at, though. I can't say I've ever seen Cuervo margarita mix "on tap" - but maybe I just don't hang out in the right places. There's also two other versions of this tap that are more rare: a tall, skinny version, and a blended version (no splashing since it's not on the rocks) that doesn't say "margarita".

In 1758, Antonio de Cuervo received a land grant from King Ferdinand VI to start an agave farm in the Jalisco region of Mexico. He built a small factory on this land. In 1795, King Carlos IV gave the land grant to Cuervo's descendant, Jose María Guadalupe Cuervo. Carlos IV also granted the Cuervo family the first license to commercially make tequila, so they built a larger factory on the existing land. The family started packaging their wares in individual bottles in 1880. The distillery was named Fabrica La Rojeña and is the oldest distillery in Latin America. The tequila was exported to the United States for the first time in 1873. In 1900, Jose Cuervo Labastida decided to brand the tequila as Jose Cuervo.

The company is now owned and run by heirs of the Cuervo family, the Beckmann family. Juan-Domingo "Dobel" Beckmann, son of Don Juan Beckmann, is the sixth-generation leader of the company. As of 2012, it is the largest selling tequila brand in the world, with a 19% volume share of the global market. The majority of Jose Cuervo tequila is a 51% mixto tequilla, meaning that 51% of its alcohol content is fermented from the sugars of the agave plant. The remainder is fermented from less expensive sugar sources. Legend has it that Jose Cuervo was used in the first margarita ever created.

Jose Cuervo Official Website