[3] In 1758, Don José Antonio de Cuervo was issued a land grant by King Ferdinand VI of Spain in the town of Tequila, Jalisco.

Tequila made further advances in the US during World War II, when many US distilleries switched to war-related production and there were restrictions on European imports.

[5] According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the US demand for tequila has risen over the years, with 12 million cases shipped to the US in 2012, a 54% increase as compared to a decade earlier.

[12] In 1989, the Beckmann family sold 45% of Jose Cuervo to International Distillers and Vintners (IDV), a division of Grand Metropolitan PLC.

[13] In 1997, Grand Metropolitan merged with Guinness plc to become Diageo which would be Jose Cuervo's main distributor outside of Mexico until 2013.

[3][11][14] Starting in 2011, Diageo, the world's largest liquor maker, was in talks to acquire Jose Cuervo from the Beckmann family[7] for in excess of $3 billion.

[16] In a deal first announced in March 2013, Proximo Spirits, a company owned by the Beckmann family, took over Jose Cuervo's distribution beginning in July 2013.

[6] In order for a spirit to be called tequila, it must come from the blue agave plant, a species found only in Jalisco and four nearby regions in central Mexico.

The leaves are chopped off and the core is cooked and crushed to create juice, which is fermented and distilled to make tequila.

[19] The Jose Cuervo Express train was opened to visitors in February 2012 to help promote tourist development in the Jalisco area.

The train travels 60 kilometers from Guadalajara to Tequila, taking two hours to journey through the agave fields and past volcanoes.

Upon arrival in Tequila, guests are able to take a tour of the Jose Cuervo factory and La Rojeña distillery.

“Plata” or “silver” on the other hand, despite its color being the same as “blanco”, is an aged version of tequila which got decolorized after being kept in barrels for months or years.

[18] The extra añejo designation for tequilas aged more than three years was approved by Mexico's National Committee on Standardization in 2006.

Especial Silver is an unaged white tequila containing at least 51% agave, with the remainder being made up of sugarcane spirit.

[25] Cuervo Black was a mixto añejo tequila that included sugar cane spirit, aged one year in oak barrels.

It was named on Bloomberg Businessweek's 2009 list of the world's 20 best-tasting tequilas,[9][26] and awarded the Beverage Tasting Institute's highest rating, Superlative.

[11] Reserva de la Familia is classified as an extra añejo tequila, meaning it is 100% agave aged over three years in an oak barrel, giving it a deeper golden color with a richer flavor more typically tasted in scotch or brandy.

Maestro Dobel Tequila is carefully controlled and managed from farm to bottle, and strikes a delicate balance between tradition and innovation.

[37] Cuervo Gold is referred to in Steely Dan's song "Hey Nineteen", on their album Gaucho, released in 1980.