Cascahuín Distillery in National Geographic

Salvador Rosales Torres and his son Salvador Rosales Jr. of El Rey's very own Cascahuín distillery discuss some of the challenges of cultivating agave in November's issue of National Geographic. 

It's in Spanish, which might pose its own kind of challenge for many of you, but trust us when we say that Cascahuín is doing good, not just by cultivating some of the best blue Weber agave around but by nurturing the genetic diversity of the species by allowing a certain percentage of the plants to flower, thus providing critical food for the area's endangered bats.

Here's to Cascahuín, and consequently El Rey, both certified bat friendly.

The Music of El Rey

Music and tequila share a celebratory spirit—each is something to be shared with family and friends. In fact, the prolific Mexican mariachi artist José Alfredo Jiménez was instrumental in our evolution.

Among his vast discography is an iconic song called El Rey that served as the inspiration behind our name. In it, the legend sings I have no throne or queen, nor anyone who understands me, but I am still king. We heard this as a rallying cry for those staying true to themselves, and named our creation Tequila El Rey in honor of this dignified yet democratic spirit.

El Rey has also inspired others. In 2008, it was mentioned in a song called Superman by San Francisco Bay Area hip-hop musician Prohoezak. The song shot up the local charts and was later remixed with noted Bay Area rappers E-40 and San Quinn. Since the success of Superman we commissioned Prohoezak to produce a song exclusively for El Rey. The result is a dance floor groove you can't help but move to.

We hope to see a ton more from Prohoezak in the future—and look forward to collaborating with many more musicians and artists along the way. 

Science Says Drink More Tequila

Did you know that in addition to tasting great, tequila's agave base might build better bones, provides habit for endangered bats, and could even be used as biofuel? We didn't.

OK so maybe we knew about the bats—Distillery Cascahuín, where El Rey is made, is known for the way it helps endangered bats—but the rest was news to us. And good news at that!

Check out this very welcome BuzzFeed article for more. Then pour yourself a glass of healthy.

Cascahuín Ranked Second Best Tequila by Forbes

We were thrilled to see Distillery Cascahuín, where El Rey is produced, featured in Forbes magazine's list of  Five of the World's Best Tequilas—and at #2 on the list, no less.

Here's how Forbes describes Cascahuín Blanco: 

Earthy, sweet, oven-cooked agave, citrus, and anise harmonize nearly perfectly in this old-school treasure. This is very close to what Tequila tasted like 100 years ago. It’s made by the Contreras family, whose roots go back centuries nearly to the origins of Tequila itself. They began producing Cascahuín in El Arenal in the Tequila Valley in 1954, and just this year released this gem of a Tequila...

We're not surprised, though. The flavors Cascahuín produces are exquisite and exactly what we were looking for when we set out to create El Rey—in fact, they share the same base flavor.

We look forward to seeing Tequila El Rey in future "best of" lists alongside its cousin Cascahuín.