Establishing a memorable brand often benefits from popular cultural references. For instance, Shelly West’s 1983 country hit includes the line: “José Cuervo, you are a friend of mine / I like to drink you with a little salt and lime.”
Yet behind the familiar name lies a complicated story seldom told in these lighthearted songs. In his book, "Tequila Wars: José Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico," award-winning author Ted Genoways uncovers the dramatic life of the elusive businessman who reshaped the Mexican tequila industry.
Genoways notes that although José Cuervo is arguably one of the most recognizable names in Mexican history, the man himself remains somewhat of a mystery due to his guarded nature, scarce archival records, and the secretive community surrounding him. Many today are unaware that José Cuervo was a real individual. The biography offers a detailed and intricate account of Cuervo Labastida y Flores’s life, highlighting his interactions with rival tequila producers and his struggle to navigate a politically unstable era.
Drawing on family archives, press reports, government documents, university records, and fragments of Cuervo’s personal and professional correspondence, Genoways crafts a nuanced portrait of this enigmatic figure. Much of the book’s vivid storytelling is informed by memories shared by Guadalupe Gallardo González Rubio, Cuervo’s niece. Her richly detailed and heartfelt recollections provide rare glimpses into joyful family moments, though they often lack precise dates and verifiable facts.
The narrative opens with a dramatic scene in 1914, as Cuervo flees on horseback from his Guadalajara mansion after learning that Pancho Villa’s revolutionary army is approaching to arrest him for backing the losing side in Mexico’s chaotic civil war. At one point, Cuervo stops to administer a shot of tequila to his exhausted horse’s nostrils, a folk remedy believed to ease equine hoof pain, before disappearing into hiding.
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