What starts out looking something like a giant pineapple just before harvest time, the blue agave plant ends up as one of the world’s finest tequilas. Welcome to the mountainous region of Jalisco, Mexico, home of the Patrón Spirits Company— and its vast fields of mature blue agaves whose spiky leaves reach as high as eight feet and have bodies that can measure a daunting 12 feet in diameter.

As a brand, Patrón (which aptly translates from the Spanish as “good boss”) was founded in 1989 by two entrepreneurs, John Paul DeJoria and Martin Crowley, who made it their mission to produce an “ultra-premium” tequila. In devising their formula for the drink, they were intent on creating “a tequila that matched the complexity and finesse of a fine Cognac or Armagnac,” as one wine and spirits reviewer wrote of their results. Among Patrón's international web of select distributors—which has expanded beyond North America to include Asia, Europe, and South America—the brand is now referred to as “the Dom Perignon of tequilas.”

Although the making of tequila in the arid highlands of central Mexico dates to the Conquistadors of the 16th century, DeJoria’s and Crowley’s reinterpretation of the liquor created a new chapter in the drink’s history. What is now known as the world’s best-tasting tequila is also the world’s best-selling ultra-premium tequila (accounting for approximately 70% of sales in the category). In terms of its production, what distinguishes Patrón from all other brands is the fact that every step in its making is performed by hand.

Central to the tequila-making process is the pina, or heart, of the blue agave plant. The rich-bodied, sweet tasting pinas are cut open and the parts steamed in multi-ton pressure cookers that work to extract a pure “white” liquid. Fermentation and double-distilling (some of Patrón’s brands are triple-distilled) results in the strong drink known as tequila. Different aging times and processes determine flavor and smoothness.

For generations, tequila had a hard-bitten, boisterous reputation as a potent liquor that was best consumed quickly, its harshness to be disguised with salt and lime. The idea of savoring a tequila like a fine wine, as opposed to simply downing a shot of it, was anathema to the experience of the drink. But DeJoria and Crowley forever changed that perception. The tequila they would produce was to be savored for its subtle flavors and smooth body. One way to foster this new regard for the drink was for Patrón to create a handblown bottle,embellished with a colorful ribbon and sealed with a roundhead cork. Every bottle produced is also handnumbered.

When the company’s first tequilas were produced, DeJoria, long known for his links to the social and celebrity worlds of Hollywood, introduced the brands to some of his better-known friends. Soon, Patrón Anejo and Patrón Silver (followed by Patrón Reposado) were favorite drinks among members of the Hollywood elite, including Clint Eastwood, Peter Fonda, Cheech Marin, Dan Akroyd, and Fran Drescher. (In fact, in the 1993 hit movie In the Line of Fire, the character played by Eastwood drinks nothing but the tequila.) In 1992, DeJoria and Crowley expanded their product line with Patrón XO Café, a dry coffee tequila, and Patrón Citronage, a particularly refined tequila infused with the essence of Caribbean oranges reinventing the classic margarita).

Upon receiving the Five-Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, the first spirit ever to garner the much-coveted designation, Patrón brought out its Gran Patrón Platinum Tequila, a triple-distilled, aged variety that President and CEO Edward M. Brown personally designed as their “super ultra-premium” product. What is now regarded as the smoothest sipping tequila ever produced comes in a hand-etched crystal bottle that is, in turn, presented in a curly maplewood box.

By 1996, Patrón made more history in the spirits industry by introducing a line of fine sipping rums, launched under the Pyrat brand. The three brands—Pyrat Pisstol, a light-body blended rum; Pyrat XO Reserve, an ultra-premium blend of 15-year-old rums; and Pyrat Cast 1623, a limited-edition product blended from rums that are a minimum of 20 years old and that retails for nearly $250 per bottle—are bottled on the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

Not unlike the grand cru vineyards of France, the Patrón estate is marked by a noble edifice, in this case a 400,000-square-foot French Colonial–style structure that is as much a manufacturing facility as it is a cultural icon of the region. “Historically, a Mexican hacienda is a symbol of success and pride,” says Ed Brown. “We built and furnished Hacienda del Patrón in this same tradition— as a unique and special place where our visitors and 700 employees would feel at home, a place truly befitting the world’s highest-quality, handmade tequila.”

The hacienda features a two-bedroom luxury cottage that houses distinguished visitors, while inside the main building are banquet-scaled kitchens and dining rooms, an auditorium, and, most remarkably, a meticulously rendered version of the Virgin of Guadalupe chapel. There, every morning, the company’s employees can begin—and conclude—the day with worship that is traditional to the region. The central foyer, which is accessed through a garden courtyard, is marked by a 60-foot-high domed brick ceiling. During the hacienda’s construction, some 16 craftsmen worked for months hand carving stones, locally known as Cantera. The distinctively textured stones were used to shape the arches—a haunting architectural rhythm—that course the corridors and foyers. (In all, 1.5 million bricks were used.)

The chief creative forces behind Patrón remain Ed Brown, who came to the company after a long career with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons (and an even earlier profession as a professional golfer on the PGA tour), and John Paul DeJoria, the owner of the company, who had worked for decades in the hair-care industry, eventually creating the Paul Mitchell chain of salons. DeJoria is a devoted environmentalist (one of the first executives to refuse to test his hair-care products on animals), philanthropist, and diplomat (appointed a Special Emissary to the United Nations Environmental Program).

Both Brown and DeJoria have embraced their product’s advertising motto—“Simply Perfect”—as their governing philosophy. “Success is in the details,” DeJoria says.