In May 2017, Volcan de mi Tierra Tequila was founded from an alliance between LVMH and the Gallardo family. It was the first original spirit that an LVMH brand made since it was founded over 30 years ago. It’s also the first 50-50 partnership it ever entered. Don Juan Gallardo, who conceived this brand, has roots in Mexico going back to 1774 and he wanted to move away from the shot and slammer notion of Tequila.
The partners selected a distillery, NOM 1523 and revived a dying brand it had called Volcan. Of the 169 distilleries making Tequila in Mexico, just 23 make one brand. Volcan harvests 100% Blue Weber agave from both the Highlands and the Lowlands, the two volcanic terroirs of Jalisco, distilled into separate liquids that reflect the terroir of each soil type. The agave is left to fully mature and is harvested outside the rainy season to avoid extracting water.
The brand employs traditional and modern for milling, cooking, and fermentation, like Tahona volcanic rock milling and modern milling machines. Cooking is split between brick clay ovens and autoclaves, while fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and wooden tanks with rum and Champagne yeast). Distillation occurs in a copper still, then a stainless steel still. After this, the liquid is left to rest for 30 days. The aged expressions are matured in American oak and European oak casks, some from LVMH’s brands Glenmorangie and Hennessy. Volcan Tequila has no additives.