NOM 1492 is Hacienda Patrón, in Atotonilco el Alto in the Jalisco highlands. Every bottle of Patrón sold anywhere in the world is made there. It is also, since 2018, a Bacardí-owned distillery — which makes Bacardí the owner of two of the distilleries in this directory.
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NOM 1492 at a glance
| NOM | 1492 |
|---|---|
| Distillery | Hacienda Patrón (Patrón Spirits México) |
| Location | Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco |
| Region | Los Altos (the highlands) |
| Opened | 2006 |
| Owner | Bacardí Limited, since 2018 |
| Brands recorded | Patrón · Gran Patrón · Roca Patrón |
Bottles made at NOM 1492
| Brand | Expression | Type | ABV | 100% agave? | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrón | Silver | blanco | 40% (US) | yes | Check price |
| Patrón | Reposado | reposado | 40% (US) | yes | Check price |
| Patrón | Añejo | añejo | 40% (US) | yes | Check price |
| Patrón | El Cielo | blanco | 40% (US) | yes | Check price |
| Gran Patrón | Burdeos | extra añejo | 40% (US) | yes | Check price |
ABV figures are for US bottlings. Mexican-market bottlings of the same expression can be lower — my own Don Julio bottles read 38% where the US figure is 40% — so read the front of the bottle in your hand rather than the number on a listing.
Industrial scale, traditional equipment, both at once
Patrón is the brand most often used as shorthand for “mass-market premium,” and the assumption that follows is that it must be made on an industrial diffuser line. The equipment list says otherwise. Hacienda Patrón cooks in brick ovens, crushes with both a tahona and a roller mill, ferments in wooden tanks and distills in copper pot stills — the traditional method, simply repeated dozens of times over. Difford’s Guide counted 78 copper stills, 51 brick ovens and 10 tahona mills at the site, and the master distiller’s own framing is that the equipment stayed small; there is just a great deal more of it.
Patrón Silver is a blend of two separately produced tequilas, one of them tahona-crushed and fermented with the agave fibres left in. That is worth knowing before you pay the premium for a tahona bottling elsewhere: you are buying a proportion, not a process. The Roca Patrón line is the one that is entirely tahona-made.
Two distilleries, one owner, opposite products
Bacardí bought Patrón in 2018. It already owned NOM 1487 in Arandas, which makes Cazadores — and also Camino Real, a mixto bottled at 36%. So one company runs a highlands distillery whose entire output is 100% agave at premium prices, and another whose output includes one of the cheapest mixtos on the shelf.
That is the argument for reading NOMs rather than brand families. Ownership tells you who banks the money. The four digits tell you which building the liquid came out of, and that is the fact that predicts what is in the glass.
NOM 1492: common questions
Which tequila brands are made at NOM 1492?
Patrón, Gran Patrón and Roca Patrón — all of them. Every bottle of Patrón sold globally comes from this one distillery in Atotonilco el Alto.
Is everything from NOM 1492 100% agave?
Yes. Every Patrón tequila expression is 100% blue agave. Patrón Citronge, the orange liqueur, is a different product category and not a tequila.
Where is NOM 1492?
Atotonilco el Alto, in the Los Altos highlands of Jalisco — the same municipality as Don Julio’s distillery, which I have read off my own bottle’s back label. Highland agave is generally associated with sweeter, fruitier tequila than the lowlands around the town of Tequila — though that is a claim about where the agave grew, and a distillery’s own region is not always the answer to that question. NOM 1146 is the clear case: a lowland building working agave recorded as coming from this same municipality.
Does Bacardí own Patrón?
Yes. Bacardí Limited completed its acquisition of Patrón Spirits in 2018, having held a minority stake since 2008. The distillery, the master distiller and the production method did not change hands with the brand.
Related
- The full NOM directory — every distillery recorded so far
- What does NOM mean on tequila? — the four digits explained
- How to read a tequila label — where the NOM sits on the bottle
- Additive-free tequila — what can and cannot be verified
- Tequila proof and alcohol content — the 35% to 55% range