Tequila, Raicilla, and Lucha Libre: Come With Us in October

If you have ever wanted to see how tequila is really made, and raicilla too, this is the trip.

We are heading back to Mexico with our friends at PKGD Tours. October 13 through 16. Four days, three nights, ten people maximum.

I will be there for all of it.

And this one is different from our July trip. That one stayed in Los Valles, the area around the town of Tequila. This one goes to the Highlands. Then it keeps going, deep into the Sierra mountains, to raicilla country.

Most tequila travelers never get there. Here is what we are doing.

Tuesday, October 13. Guadalajara. We arrive, we settle in, and then we go to lucha libre. Masks, folding chairs, an arena full of people losing their minds. It is one of the great nights out in Mexico. Overnight in Guadalajara.

Wednesday, October 14. Three distilleries in the Highlands. El Pandillo, El Ateo, and El Viejito. Three completely different tequila production approaches in one BIG day. Overnight back in Guadalajara.

Thursday, October 15. Into the Sierra Mountains. We leave Guadalajara for the village of Ahuacatepec, arrive at a family-owned hacienda, and visit the raicilla taberna Tres Gallos. We sleep at the hacienda built in the 1600s (it’s amazing).

Friday, October 16. Back to Guadalajara.

This trip is run with PKGD, which imports many exceptional agave spirits brands into the United States.

That matters more than it sounds. PKGD does not book distillery tours. PKGD sells these brands, drinks with these families, and has for years. When they call ahead, the owner comes out. The master distiller walks the floor with you. You are not in a group of forty peering through a fence.

Their guides are Mexican locals who know a lot about a lot.

Raicilla is agave spirit from the Sierra and coastal regions of western Jalisco and Nayarit. It has been made in local villages for generations. It only received its own denomination of origin in 2019, from Mexico's Institute of Industrial Property.

The rules forbid blue agave outright. Sierra raicilla leans on Agave maximiliana, which grows wild, reproduces only by seed, and takes years to mature. Nothing about it is fast or industrial.

Taberna 3 Gallos sits in Ahuacatepec, in the municipality of Atenguillo, roughly three hours from Guadalajara. It was founded by three brothers, Álvaro, Bernardo, and Alejandro Fernández Labastida, and it is the home of El Acabo and Asil.

You will see wild agave harvested, cooked, crushed, and fermented. I have not stopped thinking about my last visit.

Nearly everything.

You cover your flights into and out of Guadalajara (GDL), and whatever bottles you want to bring home.

$2,808 per person traveling solo. $4,916 for two people sharing a room, which works out to $2,458 each.

Comparable tequila tours regularly run north of $3,000 and leave out airport transfers, breakfasts, and insurance. This one includes all three, plus a night in a 1600s hacienda in a region tequila tours never visit.

I have spent significant time living and working in Jalisco, and I bring my family there. PKGD is run by Mexican locals, all transportation is private, and the team is with the group throughout.

A few practical notes from PKGD's FAQs. Closed-toe shoes are required inside distilleries, so leave the sandals home. Bring light layers and a jacket for Sierra mornings. Signal is limited in the mountains. Vapes are prohibited in Mexico. And leave room for bottles in your suitcase.

As of this writing we have 8 spots open, and both single and shared-room options are available.

If you have been telling yourself you will get to tequila country someday, this is a very good someday. Highlands and Sierra. Tequila and raicilla. Lucha libre and a 1600s hacienda. All of it planned, guided, and included.

Come with us!

Questions first? PKGD will set up a private call to walk you through the trip before you book.