Tequila Distillery Visit: Don Julio

In November I visited seven tequila distilleries in Mexico. Here are some pictures and notes from my visit to the Don Julio distillery in the town of Atotonilco.

(Cutting up the pinas before baking.)

(Now when I see pinas, I get thirsty.)

(Fermenting agave.)

(Stainless steel pot stills.)

(We had a cocktail contest after the distillery visit. My team of writers won, of course.)

• Don Julio uses all estate-grown agaves
• Has a widerspacing between agaves than average
• They have 18 furnaces, each of which holds 25 tons
• Fermentation takes 24-30 hours
• Their agave is larger than industry standards, with a higher sugar content
• Inside the stainless steel stills is a copper coil