In 1758, José Antonio de
Cuervo received a land grant from the King of Spain in the Mexican state of Jalisco. He produced
mezcal in a small factory on this land. His descendant, José María Guadalupe Cuervo, used the land to build a distillery for tequila production in 1795. The distillery was later named Fabrica La
Rojeña. 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 Jose Cuervo. The company is now owned and run by heirs of the Cuervo family, the Beckmann family