He Lost 90% of His Business Overnight, and Then Rebuilt Cascahuín

Better known as Chava, Salvador Rosales Trejo is one of the most respected and revered Maestro Tequileros in the industry, making incredible tequilas at his family distillery, Cascahuín.

The brand he and his family owns, also named Cascahuín, is currently ranked as the #1 overall brand here at The Tequila Report.

Legends and Legacies visited the Cascahuín distillery (NOM 1123) in El Arenal, Jalisco to discuss where he, the distillery, and the brand came from, and where they’re headed next.

(translated from Spanish)

When I was a kid, I certainly didn't imagine I'd be working in the tequila industry. I think my first ambitions were to become a soccer player — or a firefighter! A tequila producer? No way.

But I always saw my grandfather and my father working in the industry, and when I was young, I began to understand a little more about what tequila really was. Later, when I finished my degree and started building my professional career, it wasn't within the tequila industry at all. I worked at other companies first, and then I came to Cascahuín.

Now I understand what the world of tequila is all about — what it means to make tequila. And I think that right now I wouldn't change my profession, my job as a tequila maker, for anything. But when I was a child? I don't think I ever imagined myself actually making tequila.

I've always said this, and not just once while working at Cascahuín: the time that changed me and made me understand the world of tequila was about 15 or 16 years ago. We lost a very significant contract — one where we were a contract manufacturer, producing 90% of our total production for a major spirits corporation.

That event changed absolutely everything. We practically had to start over from scratch — rebuild from the ground up. My father, who was in charge of the business, my sister Tere, and I went back to work and revived Cascahuín.

And today, we are incredibly happy and proud to see where we stand, and what we've managed to achieve over the last 15 years. Back then everything was very comfortable, and then it all came crashing down and we had to start all over again. Didn't we?

I think the only thing I wish I'd experienced a little more would have been working with my grandfather and my father — having them still at the helm of the business, but working right alongside them.

I didn't actually get to work with my grandfather in the industry, and it would have been a very beautiful and very satisfying experience to work with him.

But no — as I always say, I had a very good and very beautiful childhood, so there's nothing I want to go back and change. I just would have liked to work with him, a little bit more.

(translated from Spanish)

I think that sometimes growth can drive you to want to create more, and you can forget what success really was.

So for us right now, the big challenge for the future is maintaining quality and honesty in our products and our processes at Cascahuín. For me — for Chava — it's about continuing to work in the fields and returning more to the fields, to the agave itself, which is the beginning of producing a good tequila. So we're focusing heavily on the agave fields and the land, which is what actually produces the agave.

How do I see myself? First of all, older. And second, still working in the tequila industry at Cascahuín, with my family.

And also watching my children grow up, being with them, with my family, with my wife — and maintaining what we strive for at Cascahuín: quality in our processes and products, and continuing to grow Cascahuín.

How would I like to be remembered within the industry? As an honest person. That's what we always sought at Cascahuín — honesty and transparency in what was said and what was done.

And also to be remembered as a good friend within the tequila industry. I think that would make me very happy and very satisfied.