In 1758, Antonio de Cuervo received a land grant from the King of Spain to start an agave farm in the Jalisco region of Mexico. He built a small factory on this land. In 1795, King Carlos IV gave the land grant to Cuervo's descendant, José Marķa Guadalupe Cuervo. Carlos IV also granted the Cuervo family the first license to commercially make tequila, so they built a larger factory on the existing land. The family started packaging their wares in individual bottles in 1880. The distillery was named Fabrica La Rojeńa. The tequila was exported to the United States for the first time in 1873. In 1900, José Cuervo Labastida decided to brand the tequila as José Cuervo.
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Malt