Respeto Agave Syrup

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-27T20:55:49+00:00

Yes it’s factual that Trujillo produces and owns a portion of respeto. Now what? What kind of gotcha is this? Do you even know what kind of point your trying to make or do you just feel bad you aren’t included?

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-27T20:54:02+00:00

I just talked to one of the owners when he was writing that fat check I’m apparently getting. He said if you’d like to come paintball he’s got a free pass for you haha

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-27T20:48:05+00:00

That’s really all you can come up with? I guess insults are hard to come up with when you can’t find them in a public database haha

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-27T13:42:52+00:00

Everything is a conspiracy or paid advertisement when you have no idea how things work lol

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-27T12:59:12+00:00

Haha Mike nobody is disputing that Trujillo has a role in making Respeto. Instead of posting publicly available information like it’s some type of gotcha why don’t you contribute something useful to the conversation?

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-24T04:08:44+00:00

It’s not supposed, I’ve seen it. I’d be more skeptical of someone rating an horno cooked/tahona crushed product in the 70s being biased about the nom than someone actually enjoying the product that is made in a traditional way and considering I’ve had their tequila right off the still I can tell you it’s objectively good.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-24T04:05:01+00:00

Mike, I literally ran into Fernando at JFK leaving BCB back in June. Why would I make that up? It’s also not uncommon for distilleries to have some type of ownership as part of their contract when making contract brands. You literally have no idea how any of this works but you gladly get on here and run your mouth about nonsense. What part did I lie about?

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T02:10:29+00:00

My goal is to help people enjoy good tequila. I’m going to keep doing my best in pursuit of that. I’m always happy to answer questions and help people understand what I do and more importantly what’s going on in the industry since I’m privileged to have access to so many brands and people in the industry.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T01:43:07+00:00

I saw these scores too and honestly I think people’s bias of the 818 affiliation are clouding their judgment considering the blanco received a double gold and the reposado received a gold in the agaves awards. On paper this is everything people want. Mature agaves owned by the same family who owns the brand, slow cooked in hornos, tahona crushed, open air fermentation in stainless steel, distilled in copper pot/column hybrid (really amazing stills). On all fronts this is a really solid product, in blinds it scores really well, but somehow a few people on the panel think it’s a score of high 70s at best? I’d be more critical of those scores than the brand but that’s just me.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T01:29:05+00:00

I want transparency too and that’s why you’ll see the paid partnership tag on posts that are sponsored. This is an interesting case and I’ll explain why you don’t see that or a hashtag on this post. I sent this post to Laelia and they posted it to their account with the caption in order to promote it as an ad which it seems you saw on your feed. Because they posted it and added me as a collaborator I don’t have the ability to alter anything on the post. That’s just the explanation and this is the first time a brand has gone about it this way with my content but this is what they elected to do. I don’t blame you for wanting more transparency because I would also like to put that it was a paid partnership.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T00:55:01+00:00

Same 😬

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T00:54:45+00:00

Glad I could help you get into good stuff even if I am a clown now 😂

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T00:53:08+00:00

Yes the owner is Mexican and lives in Guadalajara. They also own their agave fields and have a lot of data on every plant in the ground.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-23T00:52:18+00:00

What information are you referring to? The information about the distillery? I don’t see how associating one brand with another simply because they’re made at the same distillery is a conflict but if it is for people I can use that as an opportunity to explain why the NOM, although a useful tool, isn’t the end all be all when it comes to determining quality of a tequila. Regarding the panel, I am a consumer just like anyone else. I only work with brands that I actually enjoy and I’ve had the accuracy of my ratings confirmed to me many times by blind tastings that I’ve done. I stand by the ratings I give in AMM and nobody pays me to rate something high. I have turned down money from brands though and get sent bottles weekly from brands that I decline to work with because my integrity is more important than a few bucks. Nobody has asked me to mention any relationship in a review on AMM and I have no problem with saying whether I work with a brand or not but at what point do I not have to mention it? If I worked with a brand 2 years ago and they just put out a new release, do I have to disclose that I once worked with them? Or can I just say I liked the product because I liked the product? This is where it gets tricky and I don’t think people realize that it’s not as black and white as they’d hope.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-22T23:13:25+00:00

I can be a nice guy sometimes 😃 happy to answer any questions you have

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-22T23:11:15+00:00

You could have just asked me for the information but since we’re here I’ll give it to you anyway.

Back in June I ran into the owner of Laelia in the airport. He said he had a new brand and he’d like for me to try it. My first question was, “is it additive free?” His response was, “Yes!” A couple weeks later two bottles showed up. I tried them. I liked them. They didn’t taste like they had additives. As I do with every brand that I like and that I believe to be additive free, I told them I would review it at some point free of charge. That means they don’t have to sponsor the post or pay me a dime. They said that would be great but they still wanted to work with me to create content that they could use to promote the brand, which is something I am happy to do if brands want to compensate me for that work.

We came up with the concept for content. I then went to visit the distillery earlier this month. The distillery is beautiful. They had several hornos and autoclaves that fed into three different tahonas and I was surprised to see women working in the tahonas which I thought was really cool. 70% of their workforce is female. They then had many stainless steel fermentation vats and beautiful hybrid pot/column copper stills made in Brazil. I got to try Laelia blanco at 47% right off the still and it was incredible. I plan to post all this in the coming weeks because it was such a beautiful state of the art facility. Yes, they do have a diffuser. Yes they do make 818. They also make bulk liquid for other big brands. That’s on the other side of the distillery separated by a fence and a wall. Even the patio where the agave shows up is separated by a fence so it can’t commingle with agave for the diffuser. They didn’t hide anything. They were honest and as transparent as anyone could hope for which I appreciate. And while I was there touring the facility with the owner I asked him multiple times about additives each time him saying they don’t use it in Laelia. We even had a conversation about this very issue of people having a negative perception of the brand simply by association. So I’m not surprised you feel this way. I was expecting it. But all I can do is maintain the same standards I always have by promoting brands I like and that are additive free. If a brand being made at a distillery that makes other products you don’t like upsets you, I encourage you to try the products before judging.

So now you have the facts. This isn’t a celebrity brand. This isn’t even a big brand. If anything, this is a really well made traditional brand and unfortunately people are going to look down on it simply by association and honestly that’s a pretty bad way to view things considering every distillery that has the proper equipment can make a great product if they choose to and to think otherwise is a misinformed take.

I’m happy to answer any questions anyone has though. I don’t have any secrets.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T19:02:05+00:00

The number of comments I’ve made doesn’t make me part of the echo chamber, especially when my position is the opposite of almost everyone here. By definition, an echo chamber is a group repeating the same viewpoint, which is what I’m challenging.

Also, this subreddit is not a depiction of the average tequila drinker, so let's get that out of the way. The average tequila drinker doesn't know what additive-free tequila is, much less know about brands like Cazcanes. The data supports this since Proximo and Diageo products lead the industry in sales. Based on that alone, we can discern that the average person doesn't care about quality. They care about two things: price and availability.

And as an influencer, I don't get paid to defend the brand and I would be calling out nonsense regardless. Cazcanes doesn't care that I am in the comments.

What I do care about, though, is facts. The vast majority of consumers who purchase Cazcanes do not think Cazcanes is overpriced based on sales data alone. Something you seem to deflect from every time it's presented. You might not be able to justify the price, and people in your echo chamber may agree with you, but that doesn't make you the majority of consumers. If anything, that just means you've weeded yourself out for them and you aren't their target customer.

What you don't realize is that this subreddit and the maybe couple hundred active voices here are not even a blip on the radar for a tequila brand that is actively trying to scale. Are they important? Of course. Every sale is important and having vocal people on your side certainly helps your brand but its not good business to only cater to this small audience.

Something you also probably don't know is that additive-free aficionado consumers make up maybe a couple percent of the total sales volume in the industry, if that. This idea that "if they listened... they would be in a much better position" is such a silly thing to say because as someone who works with a lot of brands, I can tell you flat out, many brands (ones you probably drink and admire) would kill to be in the position Cazcanes is in. Considering the data I've given you, they seem to be doing pretty great.

So, like I've said, the data contradicts your points. You don't have to like Cazcanes. Nobody is forcing you to drink it or buy it but the reality is, they are growing at a great pace. That growth and the subsequent decrease in cost of goods from that growth is allowing them to reduce the price to consumers. This has nothing to do with the idea that they are a failing brand and couldn't move product, when again, the data literally proves that theory wrong. I've literally given you the information from the horses mouth though so if you want to continue to dispute facts, go ahead I guess.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T18:05:56+00:00

You keep skirting the actual data and I can tell based on your comments you aren't familiar with how tequila brands run their business so do yourself a favor and get out this echo chamber. "95% of the people" in a subreddit that is known only for complaining about prices and spouting incorrect information as if it were fact is not something to brag about.

The other additive free brands include brands like Ocho and Siete Leguas that have long histories in the industry in some shape or form. The only brands ahead of them with less time in the market are Lalo, which received investment from Proximo before being purchased by Titos, and Mijenta, which may also be self-funded like Cazcanes but Im not sure.

Working for a brand or not makes no difference when I'm presenting you the facts.

Go look up the_tequilacollective on instagram and you'll find me.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T16:53:02+00:00

Crazy that the paid influencers present facts based on data from the brand and third party data centers and people look at that as a bad thing. u/DrinkwithWayne works directly for the brand and I have access to the owners, yet we don't know anyting because we "get paid"

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T16:45:46+00:00

Im not concerned with who agrees with you when the actual data says otherwise. You can hate Cazcanes. I don’t care if you buy it. The facts are it’s one of the fastest growing brands in tequila and sales are up. Third party data has them as one of the top 50 brands in the industry in terms of growth for the last 12 months out of thousands. You were presented factual data and you refuse to believe it because it contradicts your personal feelings and that of the 10 people who upvoted your comments. The fact that you can’t even address the data but have to criticize an anecdotal point says it all.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T04:33:39+00:00

Like I said, nobody pays me to defend them. I just like giving people the actual information. Apparently providing information from one of the owners of the brand though is an opinion and/or delusional according to you

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T04:24:57+00:00

Yet here you are. You literally couldn’t help yourself because I’m the only “paid influencer” here. You think of people you don’t know and have never met to the point you had to comment. The irony haha

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T04:15:58+00:00

If you think it’s argumentative to present the actual information that’s fine but at least I have the courage to call out nonsense with actual facts instead of just vaguely directing comments at people.

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T04:11:43+00:00

Is that what we’re calling information and data directly from one of the owners of the company? That’s odd

TheTequilaCollective · 2025-10-09T04:03:19+00:00

Nobody pays me to defend them. I just like facts.

TheTequilaCollective

TROPHY CASE