The Woman Who Changed The Tequila Industry

March is Women’s History Month, and March 8th is International Women’s Day. The goal of these celebration days is to bring to light interesting and at times unique stories of individual women who have made a contribution to their community and possibly their nation. One story caught my eye – it was about a place in Mexico where a Tequila / Mezcal distillery was owned and operated solely by women. It is located in the Los Altos region, near the town of  Valle de Guadalupe in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

The one story I was curious about was about a woman named Melly Barajas Cardenas. She initially started out in her twenties in the fashion designer industry, and then changed her direction–she became a master tequila distiller. She said: “All this adventure started because of my love for my dad.” Her father loved tequila, and Melly decided to create a unique legend in the tequila industry. This was quite a “challenge” as tequila production was a male dominated industry. At that time in 1999 with nearly 140 male-owned-and-run tequila distilleries in Mexico, hers was the only one led and operated solely by women. Sadly, Melly’s father died before he could see how well his daughter had succeeded. Now after 25 years, she is considered a leader and a mentor in this industry, as well as a role model for other distilleries to have women as owners and workers.

 At the time she started her new venture when she was looking for workers, only women were applying. In the area of the distillery many of the adult men went north to work, and women usually were not allowed by “custom” to work in an area where young men were working, so it was by “destiny” that it became an all women work force.

The making of Tequila is a multi-step intricate process. It starts with the planting of the seeds, growing the crop, cutting and harvesting the blue agave bulbs and when ready are brought to the factory. Some of these bulbs weigh 55 pounds. They are put into an adobe oven to be roasted, where the bulbs soften and releases the sweet juices of the plant, which is the main ingredient of tequila. After 24 hours, the juice is sent to storage tanks for fermentation which can take up to 12 days to complete. Depending on the distillery some “tanks” used are oak barrels. And the last step is bottling and the Barajas brands use recycled Mexican glass in Zapopan.

The Barajas company makes more than 1,300 gallons of Tequila every day for six different brands – four of which are owned by Barajas: “Leyenda de Mexico” (Legend of Mexico) tequila, “La Gritona”, “El Conde Azul” and Tequila “Espectuclar” .

Because of Melly Barajas’s pioneering action, now there are at least 12 of the 152 distilleries that are all female – 8 percent. Here are just some of the Tequila – Mezcal brands that are produced by female owned distilleries and operated with only women workers in Mexico: “Dona Vega Mezcal “– Sonya Vega-Augray – in Oaxaca, “Casa Dragones”- González Nieves, “Satryna Tequila” – Nitzan Marrun, “Próspero Tequila” – Stella Anguiano [partnered with British singer Rita Ora in this business venture], “Tequila Cava de Oro” – Leticia Hermosillo, “Yola Mezcal” – Yola Jiminez, Gina Correll, and Lykke Li, “Curamia Tequila”- Dafna israhi, “Tequila Hacienda de Oro” -Iliana Partida.

Tequila vs. Mezcal- The Difference. Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, found in the lowlands and highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. They only grow in this area in significant quantities because they depend on reddish, volcanic soil in this region for proper nourishment. Mexico regulates Tequila closely, and like champagne, spirits distilled from the blue agave plant can only be called Tequila if they come from the state of Jalisco or some of the municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas.

Mezcal can be made from multiple types of the agave plants. Mezcal has a smokier flavor than Tequila. Most Mezcal is produced in the state of Oaxaca, but it can also come from Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacán, and Puebla. The Mexican government also certifies the production of Mezcal.


For more information about Lake Chapala visit: chapala.com


Jackie Kellum

1 thought on “The Woman Who Changed The Tequila Industry”

  1. Robert .j. Denton

    Someone has truly misinformed the writer. These women call themselves master distillers but none have ever made any tequila. The all have created a brand name and then buy contracted tequila to sell. My favorite one is casa Dragones. It is made in Jesus Maria a small town near Arandas, in Jalisco, in San Miguel de Allende as she alludes.

    There is only one one female Master distiller I know of, and that’s Sophie Decobecq, tequila Calle 23, a fabulous tequila. She is a well educated innovative distiller.

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