In 1795, Jose María Guadalupe de Cuervo began selling J. Cuervo's first Vino Mezcal de Tequila after receiving the first official letter from the King of Spain to produce tequila commercially. Cuervo produces tequila at La Rojeña, the oldest active distillery in Latin America since then. For over 250 years, Jose Cuervo® has been making tequila from the largest agave farms in the world. The journey begins in the fields of the skirts of the Tequila volcano. After seven years of maturation, the agave plants are harvested and their kernels, or “piñas”, are sent to the La Rojeña distillery. There they are roasted, soaked and ground. The resulting extract is placed in fermentation tanks. Finally, it is distilled and aged to perfection in toasted barrels.