Tequila Wars

A revelatory history of the vast tequila empire born from the fires of the Mexican Revolution.

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At the dawn of the twentieth century, José Cuervo inherited his family’s humble distillery in the Tequila Valley; within a decade, he had transformed it into a complex national enterprise that would become Mexico’s leading producer of tequila. Cuervo built this kingdom of agave with ingenuity and grit. He brought electricity and a railroad line to Tequila, but when the Mexican Revolution erupted, that wealth put a target on his back. His arrest and the death threat against him by Pancho Villa forced Cuervo to flee, and his disappearance turned him into an obscure, shadowy historical figure. Award-winning author Ted Genoways restores Cuervo to his place as a key player in Mexico’s formative period. Genoways also reveals how Cuervo favored “a union of tequila makers” in what would become the first Mexican cartel. Tequila Wars uncovers the history of the man who would forever change not only the business of tequila, but cross-border commerce and conflict.