In 2015, a small group of entrepreneurs hoping to launch a pure agave brand visited a remote ranch in the jungle of Jalisco and tasted a rustic, wood-fired distillate that stopped them in their tracks. It was made by Humberto Alvarado, who was working alongside his late father at the time. But reality quickly set in: Mexico’s strict tequila regulatory council doesn’t easily bend for backcountry operations utilizing open vats and a repurposed 1970s Chevy Inline 6 engine to crush piñas. To scale a commercial tequila brand, the founders—who would eventually launch Cazcanes —had to pivot, leaving Alvarado and his ancestral setup behind.

They found their answer in Francisco “Don Chico” Jiménez Lazcarro, a man operating in a completely different world. With 46 years of factory-floor discipline, Jiménez brought the rigorous technical precision needed to produce additive-free tequila in massive 20,000-liter vats.…