Tequila Jalisco, 50km northwest of Guadalajara, is through great fields of spiky cactus-like blue agave. It’s from these rugged plants that the quintessentially Mexican liquor has been produced here since the sixteenth century, with the indígenas fermenting its precursor for at least 1500 years before that, a legacy which earned Tequila and its surroundings UNESCO World Heritage status in 2006. The town itself is a pretty enough little place, with its fine church and smattering of bourgeois mansions, but most tourists come to visit the distilleries. The slickest operation in town is run by José Cuervo, in their La Rojeña factory, north of the main square, parts of which date back to 1758. Here Mundo Cuervo, offers tours every hour. The basic tour, makes a quick turn through the factory, where you can taste the raw distillate, then continues to the barrel storage area, where you can try a little of the finished product. Extended tours take in all this, give you a chance to sit down and learn how to appreciate the qualities of the various tequilas and include a margarita and a visit to the old storage cellars. At the weekend there are even more extended “VIP” tours. If you’re interested in something else, Sauza’s La Perseverancia distillery, Mora 80, also offers tours. To get there, head five blocks west of the plaza along Ramon Corona. Across the street from the main entrance to Mundo Cuervo is the small but proud Museo Nacional del Tequila (daily 9am–4pm), where you can learn about the history of the popular drink and its crucial role in the town’s development. They have a fine collection of tequila bottles (both ornate and primitive) and agave art.

One of the best ways to experience the Tequila region is to travel on the Tequila Express, one of only three train rides left in Mexico (the others being the longer Copper Canyon run and a suburban line in Mexico City). It is undoubtedly touristy, but gives you ample chance to learn something of the process and see how the agave is harvested, and includes lunch accompanied by mariachi music and no shortage of samples. The train doesn’t actually take you to the town of Tequila; rather it travels at a stately pace through blue agave fields and stops 15km short at the town of Amatitán, home of Herradura’s Hacienda San José del Refugio. The Tequila Express is packaged as an all-in-one day tour. Tickets should be bought a few days in advance from the Chamber of Commerce cashier department, Vallarta 4095 at Niño Obrero, or from their downtown office at Morelos 395, or through Ticketmaster.

When you enter town you may be approached by people trying to get you to visit less-well-known out-of-town distilleries such as La Cofradia. They can be wonderful experiences with far fewer people and a more personal touch. The factories are typically amidst the agave fields so you may also see something of the harvesting. Trips include a minibus ride out there. The serene Herradura distillery in the small town of Amatitán, 15km southeast of Tequila on the main road from Guadalajara, deserves a stop. Again, groups tend to be smaller, the firm uses strictly traditional methods, and their tequila is considered by connoisseurs to be among the best (the real ale of tequilas, if you like).

Visitors to Tequila are often surprised to hear that the town’s eponymous spirit is more complex than its reputation lets on. As with alcoholic beverages considered more sophisticated, like champagne, tequila is subject to strictly enforced appellation rules: true tequila must be made from at least 51 percent Weber blue agave grown in the Zona Protegida por la Denomination de Origen essentially all of Jalisco plus parts of Nayarit, Michoacán, Guanajuato and Tamaulipas. The balance can be made up with alcohol from sugar or corn, but a good tequila will be one hundred percent agave, which gives more intense and flamboyant flavours, and will be stated on the label. The agave takes seven to ten years to reach an economically harvestable size. The plant is then killed and the spiky leaves cut off, leaving the heart, known as the piña for its resemblance to an oversized pineapple. On distillery tours you can see the hearts as they’re unloaded from trucks and shoved into ovens, where they’re baked for a day or so. On emerging from the ovens, the warm and slightly caramelized piñas are crushed and the sweet juice fermented, then distilled. Tequila isn’t a drink that takes well to extended ageing, but some time in a barrel definitely benefits the flavour and smoothness. The simplest style of tequila, known as blanco or plata (white or silver), is clear, and sits just fifteen days in stainless steel tanks. The reposado (rested) spends at least two months in toasted, new white-oak barrels. The degree to which the barrels are toasted greatly affects the resulting flavours; a light toast gives spicy notes; a medium toast brings out vanilla and honey flavours; and a deep charring gives chocolate, smoke and roast almond overtones. If left for over a year the tequila becomes añejo (old), and typically takes on a darker colour. A fourth style, joven (young), is a mix of blanco with either reposado or añejo. While the nuances of tequila are slowly being explored by a select few, the benefits of oak ageing aren’t appreciated by all many still prefer the supple vegetative freshness of a good blanco.

It’s easy enough to get to Tequila on regular buses from Guadalajara’s Central Vieja bus station, or save a little time by picking up the same bus outside the Periférico Sur station, the southern terminus of the Tren Ligero line 1. A good alternative is to go on an organized tour such as the Tequila Express train, the Panoramex tour, or Mundo Cuervo’s own tour, which leaves from the Hotel Roma, Juárez 170, daily at 9.30am, for a six-hour day-trip. Regular buses drop off passengers on the edge of Tequila, from where it is a one-kilometre walk along Sixto Gorjón to the main plaza and Mundo Cuervo. Visiting Tequila is particularly fun during one of its fiestas: the town celebrates the Día de la Santa Cruz (May 3) with mariachi and plenty of imbibing; and La Señora de la Salud (Dec 8), with rodeos, cockfights, fireworks and more drinking. World Tequila Day (May 27) is celebrated with parades and drinking, but in Amatitán rather than Tequila itself (arguably, Amatitán was the original centre of “mezcal wine” production before the arrival of the railway made Tequila its distribution centre and gave the liquor its modern name). Tequila National Fair from November 30 to December 12, with the following events: Coronation of the Queen; Exposure of the leading manufacturers of tequila, where the process of making the drink is shown. Here Charrería and the day of the inauguration floats, cockfights, serenades with mariachis, fireworks and mechanical practiced. The festivities coincide with the dates of that show, as on 8 December the feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception; and on December 12 honored with special fervor, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila are the first Mexican goods that were incorporated in the category of cultural landscapes inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. That rating were given for being an outstanding example of harmonious and sustainable land use adaptation in a natural environment, and the implementation of the merger of pre-Hispanic tradition of fermented maguey with the European distillation techniques. The visitor can admire in his journey through the towns of El Arenal, Amatitán, Tequila (in the Valley of Tequila) Teuchitlán Magdalena and vast areas of crops of blue agave, a plant used since the sixteenth century to produce tequila and for at least 2000 years to produce fermented beverages and make clothes thanks to its fibers, which gives the region a unique identity and landscape features. In addition to the agave fields, registration includes distilleries, factories (active or abandoned), taverns, cities and archaeological remains of the culture of Teuchitlán (year 200-900 BC); Landscape, houses, temples, burial mounds, people who produce, agave fields, distilleries, or abandoned factories, taverns, drinkers, cities, residents, visitors, culture and destination.

The agave culture is seen as an intrinsic part of Mexican national identity and is said to be pure fusion, the pre-Hispanic motifs fermentation and observation are organized in the process, with is a privilege to walk among this beautiful landscape, between its noble and generous land, caring the "Jimadores" working from sunrise to sunset among 34 000 658 hectares, divided into a core zone, located between the valleys of Tequila and Amatitán, l bequeathing to Arenal; Guachimontones zone and a buffer zone situated in the canyon Canyon Rio Grande de Santiago. The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila, are the perfect setting for you to live an experience you'll never forget.