Based in Amatitán, Jalisco, Mexico, Herradura began its life in 1870 with Félix López, who began as the distillery administrator. In 1870, López took over the distillery and registered it as a tequila producer under the name Hacienda San José del Refugio, and built a facility that remained in use until 1963. López died in 1878 and his wife Carmen Rosales took over the business with her brother. Later, the business was inherited by their son Aurelio López, who gave the distillery the name Herradura, meaning ‘horseshoe’ in Spanish, after a horseshoe was found in the agave fields and kept for luck.
In the 1920s the Cristero War broke out, and both Aurelio and his sister were sympathisers. Both siblings escaped military force, but Aurelio never returned. The business was handed to Aurelio’s cousin, David Rosales. In 1928, he registered the Herradura brand in Mexico City with a horseshoe as its logo. The brand claims to have introduced the first reposado tequila in 1974.
In 2004, Herradura bought back foreign owned shares, making the company 100% Mexican owned again. Though the business remained in the family for over 125 years, in 2007 all assets of the company were sold for $776 million to Brown-Forman. The facilities are still based in Amatitán, and it now boasts the Tequila Express train, which arrives there from Guadalajara.