13 Things You Didn't Know About Patrón Tequilas

By Alessandra Foresto

Updated on 7/25/2017 at 10:00 PM

Flick user kallao
Flick user kallao

If you're a fan of tequila, we bet you've had more than one margarita made with Patrón — or perhaps you're more hard core and have done a shot or two.

It's simply impossible to walk into a restaurant or bar and not see at least one square bottle with the brand's name on the shelves. But even though it's totally ubiquitous, we realized we didn't know much about the company and found ourselves wondering about the story behind it. Did you know, for example, that the original distiller is still with the company? Or that it owns Pyrat rums? Scroll ahead for more interesting facts about your favorite tequila. Once you're done, learn the story behind Bacardi.

  1. Patrón was founded in 1989 by John Paul DeJoria and Martin Crowley in Jalisco, Mexico.
  2. The brand's name means big boss.
  3. The original tequila was made of 100 percent Weber blue agave using the tahona process, where agave fibers are slowly crushed by a large volcanic stone wheel, and then the juice, fermented and distilled with the fiber.
  4. Francisco Alcaraz, the brand's master distiller, has been with the brand from the beginning.
  5. Nowadays, jimadores (agave farmers) still use coa knives (which resemble a shovel) to cut open the agave plant and remove the piña, the heart of the plant.
  6. According to Patrón, it takes 60 hands to create its tequilas from beginning to end.
  7. The Patrón bottle is made of mostly recycled glass in Mexico. The corks, however, are made in Portugal.
  8. The bee is Patrón's symbol because of their strong attraction to the blue agave plant.
  9. The company's first tequilas were Silver and Añejo, with Reposado and XO Cafe coming in 1992.
  10. Other varieties of Patrón include XO Cafe Incendio (made with chili peppers), Citrónge, Citrónge Lime, Citrónge Mango, Gran Patrón Platinum, Gran Patrón Burdeos, Gran Patrón Piedra, and Roca Patrón, which uses the original tequila-making process the brand used when it first launched.
  11. Patrón also owns Pyrat rum and Ultimat vodka.
  12. Each bottle of real Mexican tequila features a four-digit code called the NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana), which indicates the distillery in which it was made. Patrón's is 1492; that's why you can find that number on every bottle.
  13. The brand's Hacienda Patrón in Jalisco is environmentally friendly using recycled water in its gardens and composting unused agave.