Volcan De Mi Tierra was founded in 2017, as a partnership between French luxury giant LVMH and the Gallardo family in Jalisco. When Juan Gallardo had a chance encounter with former head of LVMH's drinks division, Christophe Navarre, at a France - Mexico joint economic conference in 2014, the pitch was simple - "How come Moet Hennessy doesn't have a tequila?".

The result of that was the Agrotequilera de Jalisco, the jointly owned company that today produces Volcan tequila, the first tequila under the LVMH umbrella.

The actual Tequila volcano.

The Gallardo family which operates out of Jalisco, which is the primary source of most of the world's tequila, has diversified businesses all across the region, also owning the largest operating sugar mill in Tequila - the region, not the spirit. Consequently the idea here was to partner up and produce some tequila. Today the brand is headed up by Santiago Xavier Cortina Gallardo, the nephew of Juan Gallardo who first pitched the idea to LVMH.

The inspiration behind Volcan is that of the Tequila volcano, an actual volcano in the Tequila region that erupted thousands of years ago, but is said to be responsible for the terroir that make the region suitable for producing tequila. And thus the name Volcan De Mi Tierra can be translated as Land of the Volcano.

Volcan touts an additive free tequila (legally tequilas are allowed 1% additives that needn't be disclosed) - so here's some additional voluntary disclosures from Volcan - and also the use of 7-8 year old blue weber agave (as opposed to 3-4 year old blue weber agave which the brand says is common for tequilas). The agaves used are a mix of Highland agaves (Alto) and Lowland agaves (Valles), which are said to offer floral and fruity notes for the former and earthy and spicy notes for the latter.

Today the brand has a range of Blanco, Reposado, Cristalino and a new X.A expression. We'll be trying the Blanco! Let's go! 

Volcan De Mi Tierra Blanco - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Clear

Aroma: Bright vegetal notes, seasoned with dried oregano and cactus, also some light flint, fondant, and then an even deeper earthiness with that assortment of dried herbs.

Taste: Packs a punch, starting with dried herbs and succulents, then fading into fondant and some light notes of clay. It takes a more mellow turn with a richer hit of that earthy herbaceousness. It’s really cohesive and well-integrated with some vanilla cream in the mix. Medium-bodied.

Finish: The dried herbs carries over, as does the soft notes of vanilla cream, giving a really nice herbal richness. Also a light savouriness.

My Thoughts

A cut above the benchmark Blanco - this has that much more richness, expressing really well those earthy herbaceous notes, which too have power, depth and cohesiveness. While it leans towards a more herbaceous profile, it has that earthy quality to it that you find in dried herbs, and here it’s also backed up by a fuller body that gives it a satisfying depth as well. To that end, you have to enjoy herbaceous flavours because they are quite bold here. It also starts off punchy but mellows out, which is a nice progression too. 

All things considered - very tasty, more herbaceous than usual but in a very nice earthy way, with good body, power and expressiveness.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot