In This Story:
How a National Geographic photo assignment at Cascahuín turned into a tequila brand
Why Wild Common was built to taste different from Cascahuín's own tequila
How the mango trees at the distillery end up in your glass
The two things the founders agreed they would never do
The history of the Wild Common name and the hawk on every bottle
Cascahuín is the #1 brand in our Top 150 Tequila Brands. It's made at the Rosales family distillery in El Arenal, where they also produce several other tequila brands. Plenty of people show up there with a bank account hoping to start just one more.
Andy Bardon showed up with a camera.
He was a National Geographic photographer, working on a story about sustainability in agave spirits. Along the way, he met Grover Sanschagrin, co-founder of Agave Matchmaker, David Suro, co-founder of Siembra Spirits, and Guillermo Erickson Sauza, proprietor of Fortaleza. Bardon calls all three "industry titans that care deeply about sustainability."
Andy Bardon. Photo courtesy of Wild Common
"The Rosales family's name kept coming up as a must-visit and a must-photograph location," Bardon said.
His timing was lucky. On his first day at Cascahuín, the distillery was using an ancestral production method, cooking agave in an earthen pit over an open fire. That batch became the much-acclaimed Cascahuín Aniversario blanco.
Bardon took some photographs that day and returned home.
"I delivered the photographs to the Rosales family as a thank you and for them to use, long before we ever discussed collaborating on a brand," he said.
The gifted photos were the start of Wild Common, the brand Bardon now runs with brothers Salvador "Chava" Rosales and Benjamin "Benja" Rosales. Its tequila changes a little from batch to batch, on purpose, and the founders like it that way.
Don Salvador Rosales, Salvador "Chava" Rosales, Benjamin "Benja" Rosales. Photo collage courtesy of Wild Common
How Did a National Geographic Photographer Start a Tequila Brand at Cascahuín?
Even before there was a camera, there was a bar.
Bardon had worked in restaurants and hospitality since he was a teenager, and was bartending in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in his early twenties.
I developed a deep passion for agave spirits during this time, and as I learned more about additive-free products (both how they were made and how they made you feel), it became my only choice for spirits.
So when the National Geographic assignment brought him to Cascahuín, he wasn't just a photographer passing through. He was already a fan of exactly the kind of tequila the Rosales family makes.
The photographs he sent afterward grew into a friendship. When Bardon went back to El Arenal some time later, "it was as a friend," he said.
On that second visit, Bardon sat under a mango tree on the distillery grounds with Chava Rosales and his father, Don Salvador, sipping tequila. Over the course of that afternoon, the conversation turned to building something together.
It didn't come together that day. "It wasn't weeks; it was months," Bardon said.
There were more trips to Mexico, and more nights out at local cantinas. "A friendship deepened, trust was earned, and that's when things really started to take shape," he said.
Each side brought what the other didn't have. The Rosales family are third-generation tequileros, with family tequila traditions going back to 1904. Bardon could photograph, edit, and tell their story to drinkers in the U.S.
Harvesting agave in the Valley of Tequila. Photo by Andy Bardon
"It was like two puzzle pieces that just kind of fit," he said.
They also shared a code. Bardon says National Geographic gave him a sense of journalistic integrity: "we have an obligation to tell the truth in our stories and present that to the world." Chava Rosales grew up on the three values his father taught him at Cascahuín: "honesty, transparency and traceability."
That match is what made the magic.
We liked how closely Andy shared our philosophy of production and work, and that's why we decided to start a tequila brand with him.
The Wild Common name was born from that friendship, and it's a tale that I'd never heard until writing this story.
Jackson Hole and El Arenal are a long way apart. But the more time the founders spent together, the more similarities they uncovered. One comment stuck: "It's wild how much we have in common!"
That became the name.
The bird on the bottle tells the same story. It's a red-tailed hawk, a species native to Wyoming that migrates to Mexico for the winter.
"We felt like this was a strong visual representation of connected cultures and a bridge from the distillery to the U.S. market," Bardon said.
Also note the WY | MX notation on the front of every bottle, tying together Wyoming and Mexico.
Is Wild Common Just Cascahuín Tequila With a Different Label?
It's a common question, but no. And that was decided early in the brand's history.
Many tequila brands don't own a distillery. They hire one. Every bottle carries a NOM number (Norma Oficial Mexicana), a four-digit code identifying the distillery that has production control over that tequila. Wild Common and Cascahuín share NOM 1123. But a shared NOM doesn't mean a shared recipe, although in some distilleries all the products are strikingly similar.
At Cascahuín, the line is clear.
"I think they're two very different expressions from NOM 1123," Chava Rosales said.
We talked about that from the start: we don't want the same liquid in our own brands, like Cascahuín, and in private projects, like Wild Common.
"Cascahuín is my family's house brand, founded by my grandfather," explains Chava Rosales. "Wild Common is a brand I developed together with the Cascahuín team."
When building the foundations of Wild Common, the three founders began with one question.
"What kind of tequila do we want to drink, and how do we make it with no shortcuts?" Bardon said.
They also agreed on two things they would never do.
"We'll never use synthetic additives, or make a Cristalino," Bardon said.
To get to a place that is true to the Cascahuín approach, but with a unique sensory fingerprint, the founders took production steps the distillery already used and combined them in different proportions.
Cooking. Large distilleries often cook agave in an autoclave, an industrial pressure tube that works in eight to 24 hours. Wild Common's agave roasts about 72 hours in Cascahuín's masonry ovens, alternating 12 hours on and 12 hours off, for even cooking.
"The masonry oven gives the agave caramel and smoky aromas and flavors," Chava Rosales said.
Extraction. After cooking, the agave is crushed to release its sugary juice. A tahona is the giant volcanic stone wheel that crushes slowly. A roller mill is a mechanical squeezer that presses the fibers faster, but more evenly. Wild Common uses both, half and half.
The tahona at Cascahuín produces the juice that comprises 50% of the Wild Common recipe. Photo courtesy of Wild Common
"It's been 50/50 roller mill and tahona since the beginning, and we've stuck to that. We chose that split for balance of flavor," recalls Chava Rosales.
Fermentation. Some of the juice ferments with the crushed agave fibers still in it, and some without. Some ferments in concrete tanks and some in stainless steel. This process of using disparate fermentation vessels is somewhat unusual, and Cascahuín is one of the few distilleries that still utilizes concrete fermentation at all.
Many distilleries add commercial yeast to speed up fermentation. Wild Common relies on wild yeast from the air around the distillery.
Our natural fermentation uses ambient yeasts that are flying around in the air, as opposed to using controlled yeasts to speed up the process. It's a slower process but yields incredible flavors as a result.
That's why the landscape matters. Bardon says the mango tree, flowers, and gardens on the Cascahuín property contribute to the tequila. The same tree the founders sat under to contemplate starting the brand becomes part of the aromas and flavors of Wild Common.
Concrete fermentation at Cascahuín is part of the Wild Common recipe. Photo courtesy of Wild Common
Distillation and water. The tequila is distilled in copper pot stills and made with deep well water.
Proof. Most tequila on U.S. shelves is bottled at 40% ABV (alcohol by volume). To get there, most brands add several ounces of water per bottle, after the tequila is distilled. Every Wild Common expression is bottled above that, between 42% and 50%.
Less water equals more agave. More agave equals more flavor.
"We want bigger flavors, more aromas, less dilution, and minimal filtration!!" Bardon said.
"For me, a higher proof always gives the tequila better balance in flavor and aroma," Chava Rosales said.
Aging. The reposado goes into barrels at 44% and rests about 100 days in used bourbon barrels. It's bottled at 43%.
"The Reposado was a pleasant surprise thanks to the high-end bourbon barrels that we chose," Chava Rosales said. On barrels more broadly, "we experimented with other cooperages to build a profile very different from Cascahuín," he said.
The añejo goes into bourbon barrels at 48% and is bottled at 47% with no added water. The most recent batch blended barrels aged 13 months and 15 months, selected by hand for flavor.
"It's thicker, more viscous, and really silky as a result of the lack of dilution, higher proof, and time spent in the barrels. I freaking love it," Bardon said.
Why Wild Common Batches Taste Different on Purpose
Most big tequila brands work hard to make every bottle taste the same, year after year. "Consistency is for big brands that want global reach," says Bardon.
If a new bottle of Wild Common you just opened doesn't taste exactly like the last one, nothing went wrong. That's the plan, not a flaw.
At NOM 1123 there will always be variation in flavor and aroma, because that comes from the raw material. We're always receiving agave, but it's never the same. That's what transparency and a natural process mean.
Agave is a plant. It changes with the field, the weather, and the harvest. Wild yeast changes too. With no additives and minimal filtration, nothing evens those differences out.
"Each is different because it's a natural product. It may get a little cloudy in cold weather (due to minimal filtration) and some consumers are going to prefer certain batches over others," Bardon said.
Some fans treat that as a reason to buy more. "People have gone out and bought all three batches of our tequila añejo. They want to taste them side by side, compare them, and we love doing that as connoisseurs," says Bardon.
What Does Wild Common Tequila Actually Taste Like?
"We never set out to make the best tequila in the world. We set out to make a tequila that we and our customers like," Chava Rosales said. "For us, 'best' means respecting the raw material (the agave), its processes, and the people who help us produce it every day."
Bardon agrees. "To me, 'best' was never about a title or a ranking," he said. "The consumer palate has never been something that we have chased."
The scores have followed anyway. At The Tequila Report, we've never scored a Wild Common bottle below 90, and the brand is #7 on our most recent list of the Top 150 Tequila Brands, with a 9.5/10 brand score.
Wild Common Blanco (42%). Our review of this one is in the works, so these notes are Wild Common's own.
The brand describes a nose of strong cooked agave, wildflower honey, baked bread, apricot, mandarin, and peppercorn. On the palate, find cooked agave, deep minerality, savory herbs, sweet lime, white pepper, and stone fruit, with a salty, citrusy finish. But remember, each batch varies a bit, which is part of the fun.
Wild Common Still Strength Blanco (50%). Our review scored it 96, partially due to the intense flavor, as there is no water added after distillation.
The nose is earthy with a touch of sweetness: cooked agave, celery, lemongrass, wet minerals, and brine. On the palate, cooked agave fills the mouth, viscous and creamy, with herbs, pepper, green olive, and poblano behind it. The finish is mostly buttery agave with a peppery tingle.
Wild Common Reposado (43%). Our review scored it 91. The nose jumps out of the glass with warm baking spices, toffee, and soft vanilla.
On the palate, intense cooked agave leads, with vanilla, light baking spice, and gentle oak. The barrel adds softness without covering the agave. The finish is long and viscous, ending in stone fruit.
Wild Common Añejo (47%). Our review of Batch 1 scored it 90. The nose brings orchard fruit, baked apple, cinnamon, and cooked agave.
On the palate, the barrel takes the lead with baking spices, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar, dried fruit, caramel, vanilla, and a touch of maple. The finish lingers with cinnamon and molasses and a big mouthfeel. Batch 3 is the current release and is perhaps even more coveted by tequila fans.
What's Next for Wild Common
Wild Common is now sold in 15 states. More states mean more pressure to cut corners, and Bardon says his years as an Exum mountain guide help with that. Guiding taught him to weigh risk, push when it's right, and turn back when it isn't.
You're not going to summit a mountain if you quit, so you need to go for it, but you also can't be reckless in the process if you're going to get home safely at the end of the day.
"We will never sacrifice quality for growth," he said.
He isn't trying to be on every shelf, either. "My hope is that we can grow this into a legacy brand for generations that exists on every bar cart of a discerning consumer who truly cares," he said.
New releases are coming, but the founders aren't sharing details. "We have a bunch of exciting things in the pipeline to share with the market! But we can't give away any hints here…" Bardon said.
Wild Common started with Bardon arriving at Cascahuín with a camera, handing over the photos, and asking for nothing in return. The brand still runs on those terms: talk honestly and openly about how it's made, credit the people who make it, and let each batch of agave taste like itself.
If you've never tasted two batches of the same tequila side by side, Wild Common is a good place to start. Pick up bottles from two different lotes and see which one you like better.
You can read the batch number on the back of the bottle.
Wild Common is a presenting partner of The Tequila Report.
About the Author
Jay Baer has spent 30+ years studying tequila and agave spirits. He is the co-founder and editor of The Tequila Report. Jay is also the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, and has spent three decades building and advising brands.
In addition to The Tequila Report, Jay and his business partner, Maddie Jager, are co-founders of Slingshot, an invitation-only community of craft tequila brands, and The Craft Tequila Conference.
Jay lives in Bloomington, Indiana and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
