DON JULIO
The life of Don Julio Gonzalez was defined, above all else, by passion. It was this passion that inspired his creation of the world’s first luxury tequila. From a young age, Don Julio González saw a unique opportunity in the production of tequila. With nothing but his own passion for the endeavor, he went to a powerful local businessman and requested a loan to pursue his vision. Seeing exceptional drive and confidence in the young man, the businessman granted him a loan to found his first distillery.
In his mission to revolutionize tequila from the ground up, Don Julio González chose quality over quantity at every turn. He painstakingly planted each agave further apart, giving them more room to grow. He allowed each individual plant to grow to full maturity before harvesting. He would select only the most succulent portions of the piña, before slow roasting them for 72-hour cycles. The resulting tequila was smoother, richer, and of truly uncompromising quality.
When the time came to bottle his creation, he broke with generations of tradition. Tequila bottles had always been tall, and were usually hidden beneath the table. Don Julio González envisioned a spirit worthy of proud display on the table, and designed a shorter bottle so his guests could still see one another across the table.
As word of his tequila spread and his success grew, Don Julio González stayed loyal to the community that had made his labor of love a phenomenon. Staying in his native Jalisco, he established a distillery where generations to come would follow his passion for quality and craftsmanship, the passion of a man who revolutionized an industry forever.