Amatitan & Tequila Trip & Casa Cofradia

Last Sunday, we decided to take a trip to Amatitan and Tequila. Not being the tour group type, we decided to wing it by taking a taxi from Tlaquepaque. We thought we would start with a tour of Herradura in Amatitan but arrived about 20 minutes after the final tour before the Tequila Express arrived. We did have the option of sticking around for that tour but chose not to do so. The next regular tour was either 2pm or 3pm and we thought about coming back for the 3pm after visiting Tequila.

Took a taxi to Tequila for $100MXN and started kicking around town. Visited the Jose Cuervo distillery gift shop but the tour wasn't of much interest since we had done that one about 10 years ago. After lunch on the plaza, we headed off for a hike to Sauza but found out they were closed on Sundays. At that point, we decided on a tour of Casa Cofradia but had some time to kill before the tour left and walked around Tequila. Slideshow of Amatitan and Tequila: https://picasaweb.google.com/118146709599975173363/TEQUILAAMATITANJALMEXICO#slideshow/5699488302561570866

Since Casa Cofradia aka La Cofradia, S.A. DE C.V. is located on the outskirts of Tequila, we took a van ride out there. One of the attractions to choosing this particular distillery was the fact that they had their own porcelain factory where they produced their own unique porcelain pottery bottles. Ourselves and another couple were provided with a very pleasant English speaking tour guide who really knew her stuff! While the distillery was not actually operating on Sunday, we were still given an informative tour. They have a beautiful "boutique hotel" on the grounds with four rooms that run about $1900MXN and a huge restaurant. Casa Cofradia produces 22 different labels and the best known is probably Casa Nobles. Definitely a premium Tequila producer that appears to take a great deal of pride in the products they produce.

The photo which follows is of the fermentation vats which have 18,000 liters in each batch but result in 1800 liters of pure blanco tequila after distillation:
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On the premises they have a display area and museum. The mural of the founder of the company was painted by an artist (sorry I cannot remember his name) from Ajijic:
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In the museum, they had what what was certified by Guinness World Book of Records in 1997 as the largest Tequila bottle ever produced. This bottle was hand blown in Tonala:
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Slideshow of the facility at Casa Cofradia: https://picasaweb.google.com/118146709599975173363/CASACOFRADIATEQUILAJALMEXICO#slideshow/5699504066031919698

Since we have been working for years at building up a Tequila Collection, we looked at what they were offering both at the distillery and around the town of Tequila. What we found that their prices seemed to be higher than what we had seen in shops in Tlaquepaque and elsewhere in Guadalajara. We had spotted a couple of Casa Cofradia Factory Stores in Tlaquepaque that were running a special - buy the first bottle at regular price and the second at half price and decided to go that route since they didn't have the same offer at the distillery. We purchased two collector bottles of Anejo:
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