Crafted From Scratch: Volcán De Mi Tierra Tequila Arrives in Canada

It is rare when you have a historic brand try something completely new. Something somewhat out of their comfort zone.

Usually, you have timid launches, additions of similar products, something that’s aged a little bit longer, but all in all not much change.

For this spirit, it revolves around a new story, developed from scratch and it’s surrounding a Tequila brand.

Here is a story about one of the largest entities in the world, LVMH, creating the new tequila, Volcán De Mi Tierra.

After perfecting champagne in many ways, the LVMH house of brands responsible for timeless classics like Moët & Chandon and Dom Perignon, have decided to reach out to new markets, audiences and spirits with their new tequila.

That’s right, tequila.

So, why should we be interested in a tequila from LVMH?

It’s the fact that it’s a brand that they have actually built a completely new brand from the ground up. They didn’t buy a company to change the label, they bought into a 4.5-year journey that has produced quite an intriguing product to be added to the competitive tequila market, and it’s just been introduced across the border in Canada.

First stop, Toronto.

Enter Volcán De Mi Tierra Tequila

Let’s step back for a second and step into the land of Mexico. When starting the Volcán brand, representatives from LVMH went through more than 20 sites to pick one that really made sense. After touring both digitally and going on location, the LMVH representative, who used to head-up Dom Perignon, Trent Fraser, knocked on the doors of a property producing tequila decades previous. After touring the land, there were these double doors that opened to a scenic view of a volcano. Aptly named, Tequila Volcano. Then when he asked what the property was called. The owner of the land mentioned it was named, Land of My Volcano, and that kickstarted the whole brand from there. Volcán De Mi Tierra was front and center and all the branding work previously done went immediately into the bin.

I love this story particularly because of a few reasons. One, the story, it’s an entrepreneurial one that really starts with a root motivation to develop a great tasting tequila. Two, the fact that they created a brand new product line and went through the whole process instead of just relabelling a former product and called it a day. Finally, three, the amount of detail they went through that process and the fact that there is an enriching story underlying it all.

To develop the taste of  Volcán De Mi Tierra Blanco, in true LVMH detail, the tequila went through a rigorous tasting process of more than 170 iterations of testing and sampling before coming up with a top-ranked tequila. A wide range of different people tried the tequila and gave their experience. Everyone from tasting experts in tequila, champagne tasting experts, locals and just pedestrians who haven’t tried the product before both in and out of Mexico.

Even the bottle design, which has a volcano design carved into the bottle of the bottle, took 28 designs before the Volcán team was happy with it.

This range of testing, experimentation, and trialing, is something I wish a lot more companies would go through and it’s something interesting that is done in pure LMVH detail. It’s that attention to detail that has produced quite the interesting product line.

A Personal Introduction To Volcán De Mi Tierra

This week, I was invited to Soho House by Volcán to enjoy a lunch and tasting of their products and to talk to Fraser about the start and current status of Volcán.

He educated us about the volcano erupting hundreds of years previous, which helped shape the region all around where Volcán De Mi Tierra was created. I further was educated on the fact that the soil from the volcano itself, when used in tequila, generates different flavour profiles. So more highland areas experience more of a herbal, citrusy flavour, while the lowlands of the volcano yield more of a darker, more caramel, flavour profile of tequila.

Volcán Tequila Blanco

As a Blanco, it’s expected to have a bit of bite when it comes to tasting it straight. The Volcán Tequila Blanco is particularly smooth at the back of the palate with a spicy bite more at the tip of your tongue. Upon having it for the first time, it’s like a wave hitting first and slowly smooths out as it reaches the back of your mouth, like waves coming into the beach.

How I would drink this: With cocktails, mixed drinks or a quick sip.

Volcán Tequila Cristalino

As mentioned previous, the lowlands of the mountain brings more depth with its flavour profile compared to the Blanco. You have more of a vanilla, caramel tasting experience with this Cristalino style. You can use it for cocktails in different ways, but I feel like it’s a smooth flavour that should be enjoyed as pure as possible. I am a whisky drinker, so I can easily enjoy this Volcán Tequila Cristalino in more of a sipping fashion, straight up.

How I would drink this: Straight or over a small ice cube.

The Volcán team was generous enough to host us for a lunch at the Soho House. I have eaten plenty of times at the Soho House, but I have to say, the food they brought in was the best food I had there. Soho House Toronto, take note!

Pairing With Food

Here are some of the images from the tasting event as well to round out the pairing of both straight and mixed cocktails using the Volcán Tequila.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to developing a new spirit, it comes as a nice surprise that the roots of Volcán come from strong entrepreneurial spirits. One that has not only made a smooth tasting tequila but ones that have worked with and respected the Mexican roots and hard work of the property before the joint venture was put in place. With these in mind, the creators of Volcán have earned my respect after going through the painstaking process firsthand of crafting a product and shaping it from hundreds of hours and iterations of labour, work, testing, experimentation and more. Moving past these aspects and having more focus on the tequila, even if I didn’t know the backstory and had no bias of story or experience, it would still be a great tasting tequila to enjoy both straight up or mixed well with others. The story, the journey of creation and hard work surrounding the crafting of a new product brings that icing on the cake feeling towards the spirit.

For more information about the story, the brand, and the product, be sure to visit their website to learn more at Volcán De Mi Tierra Tequila.

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