Tiff Christie
Tequila is very much a liquid that is based on patience, tradition, and family. And no brand expresses that more than El Mayor.
Over four generations and 150 years, the Gonzalez family has created their liquids from the field to the bottle, putting their passion and craft for agave fermentation and ageing into every drop of the liquid. With the brand now available across Europe, we talk to distiller and brand ambassador, Grace Gonzalez, about legacy, tradition, and of course, the cocktails you can make with their liquid.
Thank you for joining us, Grace.

Grace
No, thank you so much for inviting me, Tiff. It's a pleasure.

Tiff Christie (01:26)
Now, the last 10 years has seen the popularity of tequila go from strength to strength. Have you been surprised at the increasing demand?

Grace (01:30.672)
I don't want to say surprise because I feel like the market has changed and the consumers are really watching what they're drinking and really knowing what they're placing in your body, if that makes sense. So tequila being such a high quality spirit, of course, I think that this was going to happen. We were not expecting it as fast as it happened, but we're happy that it did. So I think that more than anything, it's thanks to the consumer really wanting to drink something with high quality, such as a spirit.

Tiff Christie (02:09)
But as I mentioned in the intro, your family has been making tequila for 150 years. It's only now that it's really taking off. I mean, that must be in itself a bit surprising.

Grace (02:19.312)
It is a little bit. So yeah, my family has been for many years in the tequila industry, but my father decided to go independent 38 years ago. So he opened his own distillery and I'm the fourth generation master distiller within my family. But my father has his own company. As I said, 38 years ago and something that we really enjoy seeing is how the consumer started changing the way that he they were like looking for the spirit that of their choice. So of course it has being super grateful to see the growth, especially because not a lot of people talk about the main ingredient in tequila which is agave and when you're thinking about taking care of yourself or drinking something high quality there's nothing better than tequila as it's basically made out of agave and water period.

Tiff Christie (02:57)
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges that are facing the tequila industry or agave industry in general at the moment?

Grace (04:18.51)
I would say you know that me living in Mexico being so close to United States tequila the number one country that consumes tequila all over the world not per capita volume wise is the United States so for us it's a we think and we always see tequila even you guys it's something that it has been always within our lives and actually, there's a lot of places in the world that don't even know about the spirit. So I think that we're trying to educate and to go out in the market and to talk about our wonderful spirit, how it's made. A very important thing for us as an industry, it's to explain the process with the tequila and to explain how pure this spirit is.
I don't think that a lot of times people understand that because back in the day we only had a little bit less expensive products, so people didn't perceive it as a very high end...
I think that that's something that we face to start educating more of the consumers and to explain them what this beverage is and that it's not only for shots. Don't get me wrong, shots are fun and just for the party scene. But tequila is so much more that you're able to actually pair it with food. So I think those are like the things that we faced, I think, more of the image that we had before. And I think that now people are like more concerned and they're understanding a little bit more about our process and how you can make amazing cocktails with, I mean, the mixologies seen right now, it's crazy with tequila. Also how you can pair tequila with food, just the way that we do it with wine. So yeah, I think that it has been trying to teach the world and show the world what a magnificent spirit it is.

Tiff Christie (04:50)
Speaking of teaching, I suppose one of the main things that consumers find difficult to understand would be the difference in the expressions. Can you talk us through each of these?

Grace
One thing that is very important is to know what makes a difference each one of the expressions. So by law, in order to call your product blanco, it has to be either not aged or rested less than two months in barrels. Our blanco is totally unrested. And the only reason why we decided to keep it that way is because when my father was creating this line of tequilas, first of all, he wanted to create a line of tequila that you were able to sip on from blanco to reposado, Añejo, Extra Añejo,
and now recently added the Cristalino, and that you could be able to have that nice experience without being overwhelming, but still being able to taste the true flavour of agave.
So our blanco is gonna be completely unrested. Then we move forward to reposado. Reposado by law has to be rested at least for three months in barrels. Ours is definitely not rest, I mean, ours is rested, my apologies, ours is rested at least for nine months. And the way that we keep consistency in our products and the reason why I like to be very emphatic with the world, at least it's because the youngest barrel that we used to produce this batch of tequilas, it's nine months. But if it's lacking of aroma, flavour, or colour, then what we do is we add barrels that have been host in tequila for a little bit longer than nine months. So all the colour evolution, flavour evolution, and aroma evolution that we're gonna find as we move on from the blanco to the reposado, anejo and Extra Anejo, it's gonna come from the barrels. Then the anejo by law has to be aged at least for one year in order to be called Añejo. Ours is aged for 18 months. So again, all the colour, aroma, evolution is going to be for the extended period of time at the barrels. And then the extrañejo by law has to be aged at least for three years. Ours, the youngest barrel that we have every use is three years and a half more or less. And the youngest, I mean the eldest, a little bit less than five. Cristalino. Cristalino is an innovation within our industry what it really means it's a rested process so it could be a reposado, anejo or Extra Anejo that through filtration we remove the colour.
I get a lot of comments, and don't get me wrong, I thought the same thing, from people saying, well, it doesn't make sense to remove the beautiful colour that you're able to obtain from the barrel. Why would you do that? And I have like the same process of thinking. And actually, when I was invited to be the master of the stiller for the Cristalino, at the beginning, I was just like, yeah, I really don't believe in this project, because why would I actually want to strip the colour. But then talking to one of my favourite mixologists, he showed me all the opportunities that we had, if we did so, in innovation. Like the consumers were going to be like very excited because sometimes people have the idea that a crystal spirit, it's more pure.
So even like with our Cristalino, it looks good. It's completely clear, but once you start sniffing in it, you find like all those amazing aromas that come from the barrel. So making cocktails with this tequila, it's like absolutely fabulous because you're able to serve a cocktail that is clear as a martini, but it has like so much power. So that's why I was like, yes, we definitely need to come up with something like that. And it's very unique and it's very special.

Tiff Christie (07:58)
Cristalino and particularly the Añejo have been almost branded as sipping tequilas with the Blanco and Reposado more for making cocktails. Is that the way people should look at them?

Grace (11:00.24)
This is actually a very good question. Every time that I get asked, how should we drink tequila? Honestly, I always tell them when you're drinking El Mayor, you're drinking however you feel like it. But, and this is a very personal opinion. I'm a Blanco drinker and I love sipping. So usually I sip on my Blanco when I'm pairing food with tequila. Depending what I'm eating, I will sip either Blanco, Reposado or Añejo. For instance, cocktail wise, the Blanco, as it is my favourite my favourite way to drink it it's just with a little bit of sparkling water a slice of cucumber a little bit of mint, something just to make like a longer drink especially if you're like drinking tequila in Mexico that the temperatures go so high so sometimes you tend to drink a little bit faster so it's a good way to make your drink a little bit longer.
For me the reposado, if I'm talking about cocktails , I would always enjoy a good margarita with a Reposado. A lot of people say like well hold on blanco is for the margarita and for sure. Blanco tastes very, very good with margarita. But for my palate adding a Reposado to a lemon margarita, it actually makes the complete different or lime margarita because it balances all the acidity perfectly well with a little bit of the structure that a reposado has.
That being said, if I'm eating a beef taco or a shrimp, I don't know, let's say like with a little bit of garlic, I rather sip on my reposado. So I think that for me, and I think that I can speak also for my family, it's depending on the occasion how we're gonna drink it. But I would never say no to a cocktail with tequila and I like to see all the expressions. Actually, every time that I'm doing tequila tastings, I like to taste all of the products neat first, because it's the easiest way to start seeing the evolution of your product.
And so let's say that if you're a bourbon drinking, then probably you're going to gravitate more to the Extra Añejos, Añejos. If you're a scotch drinker, then probably you're going to like a little bit the Reposado as it is a little bit more pitted. Or if you're like a gin drinker and you're expecting like a little bit more of earthiness or herbal notes, then Blanco is going to be your to go. And Cristalino is very unique because you have a crystal spirit right in front of you yet it has like all the notes and elegant hints that you get from the barrel but you still feel like if you were moving backwards a little bit and are able to find some earthiness that makes tequila so unique. So it's like to me the Cristalino is like a perfect balance especially if you're new into the category it's a good way to start.

Tiff Christie (10:43)
What would be one of your favourite cocktails to make?

Grace
With tequila, honestly, I would never say no to a margarita, a lime margarita. I'm obsessed with them. I just find that that's perfect during the summer. I really enjoy having just blanco with sparking water, slices of cucumber, maybe a little bit of lemon or lime in a tall glass. That to me, it's like absolutely perfect. If it's like in the evening, I always like to start with either a Manhattan or lately.
I've tried Negroni's with tequila and they're surprisingly tasty. They're a little bit different, but they're like very rich and I like that. I always like to be changing. So right now I'm like into the Negroni trend. If you would have asked me like two months ago, I was into the espresso martinis with tequila. So I'm always trying to spice it up a little bit, but my ultimate favourite would always be the Blanco so far.

Tiff Christie (11:37)
Speaking of margaritas, that is one cocktail that has done a lot in terms of helping people get into the liquid. But do you think it's hard to communicate that tequila can be used for so much more?

Grace
I think, yes, at the beginning, I think people just had the idea that tequila was for shots or margaritas and that's it. But lately with different expressions of tequila and more communication and being like more open about education to our customers, I think that people are enjoying and are understanding where we're coming from and how to try it differently. And it's just crazy because for the past times that I've been in Europe, I've met a lot of people that it would be drastically shock you the amount of information that they have about tequila and they're like literally sipping and they're like agave lovers so they want to have like the full experience just by drinking it neat.
Of course it is not most of the people I believe that most of the people still order tequila within a cocktail as a margarita or as a shot. So we're getting there bits by bits and as I said I've been trying to do a lot of Vinnars pairing food with tequila and it's like a big eye opener for people I usually get like I never thought that I could actually sip on this like so easily and then it goes so well with food because we don't understand that it kind of does like the same thing and wine.
If you think about this we have done it with spirits way before because people have their bourbon or scotch or Whiskey even with cigars. I mean, there's no wet or baked not a better way to eat caviar in my opinion, of course with champagne, but also with vodka it was very good. So why wouldn't it be the same thing with tequila if it's in spirit? So like lately, the sushi goes absolutely amazing with tequila blanco or the sashimi and stuff. So every time that we are eating something and I serve tequila to people and I show them and I tell them what they're supposed to be expecting and tasting, it's like, wow, they're like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. So we're working on it. We're working on the education part.

Tiff Christie (13:44)
Talk to us a little bit more about food pairing. You mentioned sushi with blanco. What about Repesado and Anejo? What sort of foods work well with those?

Grace
The reposado, I really enjoy it either with something that has like a little bit more power in the palate because I said the blanco is such a unique expression, so smooth, it's so earthy that you need something that doesn't compete with your tequila. So when you're talking about the reposado, Halle suggests to have it like with a steak. As far as the steak, it doesn't have a lot of fat because then I think that the Añejo works better. Like beef tacos or like shrimp, that it's already cooked, it goes, it balances very, very well. Also, pork sandwiches, I love them. It's just like, they go so, so good with a chill repasado. It's like one of my favorite things to do. Añejo on the other side, I think that it goes very well with meat that it's a little bit more gamey, if that makes sense, like a little bit stronger in the flavor. So if you're eating, I don't know, duck I really, really love with Anejo, even with Extra Anejo. If you do lamb, it absolutely goes very, very good with Añejo, but also the desserts tend to be very good. Chocolate would always go good, caramel like a good creme brulee. It pairs very, very good with the anejo. The Extra Añejo, in my opinion, by itself, it's a dessert.
But for people that smoke cigars, I highly recommend to smoke a mild cigar with the Extra Añejo it balances pretty well. As long as you're not competing, again, one with each other. It goes very, very good also with anything that it's made with chocolate and that it's like a little bit thicker in flavour, it would go absolutely amazing. And the Cristalino is actually quite interesting because the Cristalino can go, it's very versatile. And that's one thing that I like.
I love a good risotto with seafood, any kind of seafood, especially when it's warm. Like if it's prepared in a warm way, like a fish and everything goes very, very well. But it also goes extremely well with light meats. Like even with chicken it goes well, yeah.

Tiff Christie (15:52)
I imagine that you have seen a million bartenders make a million drinks with your liquids. What are the more unusual drinks that you've experienced?

Grace
Well, I tried and this was in Mexico City and actually it was a couple of weeks, a month ago I was sitting and I read this and like, just please tell me like what is, and I go, this is a very famous bar and everything. So I've got there like a couple of times. So I know a lot of like the cocktails and they're like, Oh, have you tried El Pastor Margarita? And I'm like, so if you know about Mexican food, El Pastor, it's a taco, it's a pork taco and it's very unique. It has like pineapple, it has like a very nice flavor, but it's very traditional. So people love tacos al pastor. And he goes like, do you want a margarita al pastor? I'm like, why would I want my margarita to taste like taco? And he was just like, just try it, just give it a chance. And I tried it. I'm not going to say it's like my favorite drink from the place, but it was very unique. It was very interesting. I'm like, oh, I didn't know what to expect and it was unique and it was spicy but not overwhelmingly spicy so I would say that has been like one of the most unique things. Yeah more than tropical it was it was like heavy it was kind of like you know when you're with the first time that you're drinking like a Blotter Mary and you've never tried it you don't know what what to expect. To me the first time that I tried a Blotter Mary it was like oh my gosh this is like a whole meal because it's thick right this one is not thick but in your palate it feels like a meal, you know? But it was fresh, it was interesting.
But oh, this one is a shocker for most of the people. I don't know if I should be, I don't know if I should be sharing this, but my ultimate favorite, and I'm not a reposado drinker. I don't drink that much reposado, but it's a neat reposado, El Mayor, and as a chaser, a glass of Roast Seas champagne. I know it sounds weird. I know, I can see it in your face. You're like, but trust me, trust me. Next time that you feel like having a tequila, do that.
A lot of people don't talk about like the saltiness that you find and the minerality that you have in tequila. And also you have certain minerality with champagne. So I think that it balances on like the bubbles. And it's just like, now I'm drooling and it's only 11 a .m. But yeah, that's one of my favorite things to do.

Tiff Christie (18:10)
Now, the brand talks a lot about tradition, obviously, but also a little bit about technology. How did these two things work together?

Grace
Well, we like to say that we have like a type of marriage between tradition and technology. Tradition and mean, meaning that we make tequila, produce tequila the distillery the traditional way. So that means that first we cook the agave, then it goes through a five step milling system where we obtain the fabulous juice that is pumped all the way to our fermentation tanks, that we have control fermentation tanks.
And then it goes through the distillation in our distillery, especially for El Mayor. We only have two distillations. We don't like to go to a third one, not because we're lazy or anything, just because we think that going for a third one with the way that we produce El Mayor, it would be like shaving a lot of the acids that you get from Agave. And we don't want that. We want people that when they're drinking El Mayor, they feel that very elegant, but a slight astringency and spiciness and fruitiness and even like the molasses that you feel in tequila a lot of people don't when I talk about like all the sweetness of tequila they're like there's sweetness there's a lot of sweetness and of course right after we obtain our fabulous juice after the second distillation.
Now you can call it tequila depending on the expression that we're talking about either if it's going to be rested or aged so that's a traditional part we have been following the same recipe for many years, the line of El Mayor was created by my father. So, and he is still until today the master distiller for El Mayor. I am the master distiller and also Paul, my brother for limited editions and for Cristalino, but for their natural line, it's for the regular, the port of the line, it's my father. So that is the traditional part. The technology part, it's that we started like moving forward. We have some stainless steel ovens that people are like, well, wouldn't it be look like a little bit better if you have brick ones? I'm like, yes, but we decided to have a little bit more of a thumb ties systems in certain parts of our process. Nevertheless, doing it the traditional way. And that's something that we intend to keep that way.

Tiff Christie (20:07)
What is the factor that decides whether the tequila will stay as a Blanco or go on to be aged?

Grace
Okay, so first of all, every time that we're producing a mayor, the most important thing for us, and sorry that I'm gonna back up a little bit, it's the quality of the agave that we're using. After all, as I mentioned at the beginning, tequila's made out of agave and water. So if you have the best quality of agave and water, then you should be able to produce an amazing tequila.
First of all, it's agave that has been growing in agave plantations that we own and agave plantations that are at least 1,600 meters above the sea level. So that's going to give us certain quality and certain flavour profiles when we cook this agave.
Every time that we are gonna produce El Mayor, it doesn't matter which expression, we start the same way. We don't make the decision after the distillation of whether if it's gonna be reposado Añejo or Extra Añejo. This is not gonna be romantic or anything. We make the decision upon the forecast that we have. But always, when we're talking about El Mayor line, we're starting with Tequila Blanco. So this Tequila Blanco is always gonna be our base. It's always gonna be our base juice. So this one, depending on how much we're requiring to produce for the States or for Europe, then we decide how much amount we're gonna leave as blanco, how much is gonna be rested for Resposado, how much is gonna be aged for anejo or Extra Añejo, or how much anejo we're gonna filter to make Cristalino. But it's always our same base. So the blanco has to be abs... That's another good thing that we're talking about this. And this is probably why the blanco is my favourite one because that's going to be the base for the rest of the family. So if you have a good blanco, then you should have a good reposado, Añejo, Extra Añejo or Cristalino. This is why it's so important.

Tiff Christie (22:20)
Now, the brand usually does a limited edition special release each year. Can you tell us anything about what is planned for 2024?

Grace (42:12.816)
So, 2024, we decided to come out for the first time with a single barrel, usually single barrels. I don't know if you're familiarised with what a single barrel is. When we're producing usually tequila, well, it's a batch of tequila. The single barrel, it's the juice that you're obtaining for only one barrel. Exactly, we don't blend. So, a single barrel is something that you are never gonna blend. It's a single barrel that you're bottling, yes, in that period. But the usual tequila that we make, it's a blending of many barrels, right?
So this year is the first time that we're actually selling single barrels, which we have done in the past with Rapasado, Añejo and Extrañejo many, many years. But this year we decided to come up with single barrels with Cristalinos. So that's gonna be a very unique thing that we're coming up and we'll see how that works. I mean, yeah.

Tiff Christie (23:12)
Is there going to be much difference in flavour?

Grace
It is, because when we're talking about the regular line of El Mayor, by blending different barrels, we try to keep consistency, flavour profile, and aroma profile, right? And color. When we're talking about the single barrel, we're only obtaining what that barrel wants to give you. And it's very hard to know what you're going to obtain. Of course, you’re going to find certain similarities as we're using the same type of used barrel we usually use for El Mayor.
Only for limited editions we change it, but for the regular we always use Bourbon barrels. So of course you're going to find certain similarities, but it's quite interesting to see how some are like super oak forward and some you're like, oh my gosh, no, and this one I feel like a lot of baking spices and other ones are like extremely earthy. And so it's quite interesting to see like the differences, but yes, you will always find a difference.

Tiff Christie (24:09)
What do you want people to take away from their experience with the brand?

Grace (44:15.312)
To appreciate the hard labour that is behind every single mark. That's why I make so much emphasis about our production side. I think that not a lot of people take that into consideration. Nothing against the other spirits that are out there. But how many spirits do you know that only one of the most important raw materials takes 70 years to grow? In the best scenario. And then you have to add the other years. So I think that when they do a proper tasting and they see all the evolution about drinking, something that is totally un -aged. And if you really explain, this is quite important because sometimes I go to taste things, spirit tasting, and just like try it and boom, you're going like, no, no, no, no, wait. If you just grab your glass and drink it, the only thing that you're doing, it's burning your tasting buds and you're not going to be able to find all the goodness and all the elegant notes and earthy notes and spicy notes that you're going to get from tequila.
So if you do it the proper way, like preparing your, and by the proper way, I mean preparing your palate, you don't have to love it, but you're gonna be able to start understanding it. If you place attention to the tip of your tongue, you're gonna realize that there's a little bit of selfiness, a lot of minerality to it, which is absolutely amazing. If you're like a sincere drinker, you'll really enjoy that, you know? And if you pay attention to the middle part of your palate, then you'll open up to all the sugar like molasses that are into the agave so it's like that's what I want them to take with them like when they go back that they understand why each expression is different why it's for every for different occasions and that tequila should be fun and nice to be drinking enjoyable it doesn't have to be that hardish thing like oh my gosh I don't know let's just kick me you know um and and I feel like every time that we do this tequila tasting a lot of people come back and they're like
Now I have like a different appreciation for the industry and knowing that this is what we're doing in the whole industry. This is not me just talking about my company, my family and my heritage. This is everyone, even the big companies, they have to go through the same steps. Of course they have their unique recipes and everything, but we all have to harvest agave the same way, you know? We just have different flavour profiles. So we make a product that we're extremely proud of that has all the quality in the world. I wish that the world could understand that we have the admonition of origin, all the hard work that is behind the process final in the distillery. And of course, it's beautiful when you actually get to see your products overseas.

Tiff Christie (47:02.666)
Why should someone buy your bottle compared to other brands?

Grace (47:13.488)
Cause the quality of the product. I mean, you just have to try it and then you'll understand it. And it's there. It's tradition. It's love. It's I hate it. Sounds a little bit corny, but by the end of the day, it's true. It's the passion that we have as a family, bottled and shipped to the UK or shipped to the United States, you know? And I think that that's something that can be received. Once you try it, we have never jeopardised the quality of our products in rough times or anything. That's something that actually my father made my brother and I promise and live up to it. Like it doesn't matter what's going on everything. You always have to make tequila El Mayor with the quality as I started. There's no way that we're doing shortcuts or anything. So we do have a lot, a very, very high quality.

Tiff Christie (27:54)
Now, if people want more information, they can of course go to the brand's website, which is elmayor.com, or connect with the brand via your socials.

Grace (48:18.864)
Yes, they have also an IG handle, but I highly suggest to go to the web page because it's very unique. You can go inside, you see pictures of what we're doing, not only the distillery, but the fields. And then if you're interested to play around, we have a bunch of recipes that are like so much fun, very festive. It's a very easy web page and it has like a lot of more information that you can get.

Tiff Christie
Okay, well, look, thank you, Grace, for taking the time.

Grace (48:50.288)
Tiff, it was my pleasure. Thank you so much for doing this.