Herradura Tequila Tours Information

The Herradura Tequila Tours have a great reputation for being one of the best. In response to an email inquiry that I sent to them, I received the following comprehensive info:

"Located just seventeen miles from Guadalajara, Hacienda San José del Refugio has changed little since its founding in 1870. Whether you're strolling through our beautiful gardens, touring the fabrica Antigua, or enjoying a tasting of our tequila, a visit to San José del Refugio offers a unique look of the land, the people and the processes that go into the crafting of our tequila.

Our Hacienda is open to the public and tours usually last 90 minutes. Tour times are Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00 p.m. every hour. On Saturdays, tours are offered at 9:00, 10:00am , 2:00p.m. and 3:00 pm. Sundays: 10:00am, 2:00 and 3:00pm .We recommend a reservation.



The tours have a cost of $150.00 MXP (adults) Basic Tour that includes a basic tasting. Students with ID $100.00 MXP and children between the ages of 6 and 12 $80.00 MXP, children under 5 years accompanied by an adult are free.

$250.00 MXP Premium Tasting Herradura Brand (Silver, Reposado and Añejo).

$300.00 MXP Ultra Premium Tasting Herradura Brand (Blanco, Silver, Reposado and Añejo).

$350.00 MXP Supreme Tasting Herradura Brand (Silver, Reposado, Añejo and Selección Suprema Extra Añejo).

For more information about visiting the Hacienda San José del Refugio and to reserve a tour, please call 011 52 33 39 42 39 00. Or 01152 3747451100 ext. 2031. I have also sent a copy of your inquiry to the tour manager, who will be able to assist you with any questions.

We look forward to seeing you soon and hope you enjoy the fusion of tradition and modern innovation that is the heart of Casa Herradura. Please let us know if you need any additional information--we're always glad to help."

This info is valid for visits where you either drive yourself or make private transportation arrangements. I believe that tours when one takes the Tequila Express train are specially arranged times?

But other good ones in Tequila and you get to see the town. Smaller distilleries have decent tours as well

Tequila Cofradia is my suggestion
http://www.tequilacofradia.com/demo/index.php

The Herradura tour is very good. We drove there. Take the libre to Herradura, then after the tour drive the additional 10 minutes to Tequila and do the town.

This part of the e-mail response from them is a misrepresentation, in my opinion. "Hacienda San José del Refugio has changed little since its founding in 1870." It's specifically an interesting tour because while they've retained much of the old stuff, they combine it with views of very modern distilling practices. You get some glimpses of how it used to be made, but that definitely isn't how they do it any more. Still, it's all interesting. Plus, HIGHLIGHT!, you get to stick your arm elbow-deep into a giant cauldron that's fermenting the goop.

As Sparks said, I've also heard that some of the boutique distilleries offer really excellent tours as well, and they're almost certainly more intimate.

At David's suggestion, we are going to visit a very old small boutique distillery and will post photos after our visit. While we typically avoid what I call "Gringo distilleries" (distilleries that export to the US), we have also read way too many excellent reviews of the Herradura tour to not give it a chance. Sparks is absolutely correct about Casa Cofradia. We went on their tour two years ago and really enjoyed it:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/118146709599975173363/albums/5699503850713931793
We did learn that doing a distillery tour on a Sunday is less than ideal since you don't get to see things operating. For example, we would have enjoyed seeing Casa Cofradia's porcelain operation.

We were there mid week and no porcelain operation. I got the feeling they made stuff as needed (as they could sell it). Intelligent tour and guide in both Spanish and English if you needed it

http://sparksmex.blogspot.mx/2013/03/distillery-tour-in-tequila.html

The distillery I'd really like to visit there is far too small to do tours for the general public, and they make tiny quantities of the best Tequila in the country:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.509600599086280.1073741830.215708581808818&type=3

As far as I know, they (Los Abuelos/Fortaleza) are the only place in Tequila proper that still uses the old stone tahonas and does everything by hand. El Tesoro in Los Altos is another, but no tours for the public there either.

I agree with Sparks about the Cofradia tour being worthwhile. They're fairly small scale and certainly high-quality, though I still won't buy their Tequilas because they (a) charge NOB prices for them here in Mexico; (b) their company-owned stores in Puerto Vallarta are time-share sales machines. Still, beats the heck out of a Cuervo or Sauza tour, or Herradura for that matter.

That IS the place and the product is stunning!

Just took a trip out to Herradura this past week.  For those that haven't done the trip, here's a link to my blog entry on the trip and there's a link to the pictures of our trip at the bottom of the blog entry.

Tequila trip and Herradura tour

Every time we have guests we take them to Tequila (been about 12 times now). We have toured Cuervo, Sauza, Roberto, Cofradia and one other that I can't remember the name of. I consider Cofradia to be the best within the town of Tequila. I haven't toured Herradura yet. Just up the road from Tequila is the town of Magdelena where there are operational Opal mines and Opal stores. If you are into Opals it is worth checking out.

Herradura has a historical side that is very well done. The tour shows the modern large
volume process to make tequila.  The old copper stills are there and the old carved holes
in the floor where they use to make the stuff in old times or are all part of the tour.
They still have all the workers houses and such. They have been on this location forever.

The city of Tequila is a beautiful place and fun to walk around. Nice sidewalks and shade.
Try La Chalupa (sp) restaurant next to the big giant crow at Jose place downtown. I think
it is related to the hot sauce with the round wood ball on the top. Unusual food I thought.

Z

While we were not able to get in to visit Tequila Los Abuelos makers of Tequila Fortaleza, we did visit their museum located right on the plaza (Vicente Albino Rojas No. 22): http://www.museolosabuelos.com/ From the hostess there, I was able to find out that private tours can be arranged by either calling 374-742-0154 or emailing: infor@fortaleza.mx. We will be planning to do so during our next trip.

Rosa Venus:

You are absolutely spot on with your analysis of what they claim on the tour versus reality! We lucked out and only had 6 on our tour, so it was a bit more personal. But we came away thinking that they spent way too much time selling the "old way of doing things aspect" when the realkity was that they couldn't possibly crank out the kind of volume using all of the old methods. Since we did learn some new things, we wouldn't call the tour a write off but it didn't do anything to encourage us to consume Herradura product.