How a Mexican Holiday and Raucous Dinner Party Launched Nick Jonas and John Varvatos’ Villa One Tequila
Villa One Tequila & Sharp
Etched on the front of every bottle of Villa One Tequila is the philosophy that, from moment one, guided the creation of this spirit: “Life as it should be.” And, inside that bottle, it’s tequila as it should be — a bright, delicately sweet, and perfectly smooth liquid that’s ideal for sharing with friends. “I think tequila is naturally something that brings people together,” singer, songwriter, and actor Nick Jonas recently told us when we asked him about Villa One, which he and designer John Varvatos created together and is finally making its way to Canada. “It really is a celebratory drink,” Jonas continued. “We drink it like Champagne and it seems to be a constant when we are celebrating with friends. When you’re making art, or music, or even tequila, when you’re bringing people together, that’s a real win.”
It all started, as so many of the best stories do, with good friends getting together for a quality hang, sharing great food and drink and, of course, a whole lot of laughter. Little did John Varvatos and Nick Jonas know that their fateful trip to an ocean view villa in Baja would wind up leading to a partnership with tequila maestro Arturo Fuentes in the creation of one of the world’s finest agave spirits, Villa One. Inspired by the natural beauty of Mexico, as well as the region’s awesome food and drink culture, these good friends decided they had to try to find a way to share their love for finely-crafted authentic tequila with the rest of the world.
From Baja, they ventured to Jalisco, tequila’s spiritual home and birthplace and, under the guidance of master distiller Fuentes, a.k.a. the “godfather of tequila,” immersed themselves into the art and science of this country’s signature spirit. “I think for us it’s all about authenticity and the craftsmanship that goes into this,” said Varvatos. “That’s why leaning on Arturo was so important. He has so much care in every step of the process and we brought a lot of passion and attention to detail to the brand vision but also to the bottle itself and obviously getting the liquid right.”
In Jalisco, the pair got a master class in tasting, blending, and learning what it takes to make the perfect flavour profile, so that Villa One could reflect their longstanding commitment to quality and craft. When it comes to tequila, that means harvesting mature agave that’s been in the ground soaking up the sun and terroir for years, slow-cooking the piña (the heart of the agave) to bring out all its natural sweetness, and then distilling it — twice — to capture its purest essence. “It all really set us up to have a great experience and enjoy the ride but also made us get serious so we could make what we believe is best in class,” recalled Jonas.
TEQUILA 101
One thing you want to see when you’re selecting a bottle of tequila is the phrase, “100% Agave Azul,” which means it’s distilled entirely from Blue Weber Agave — the only species that can be used to make a high-quality authentic tequila. Villa One Tequila is made from Blue Weber grown in both the highlands and lowlands of Jalisco, one of the few
states in Mexico allowed to produce this heritage product.
“Since the blend combines some of those earthier notes from the lowlands with the sweeter notes from the highlands, the blend really gives it a unique flavour profile,” explains Jonas. There are three main expressions of tequila: Blanco or
Silver, Reposado, and Añejo.
A lot of tequila lovers enjoy “Silver” expressions, because they consider it the purest expression of the agave. “I like to drink Villa One Silver on the rocks with a little club soda and an orange wedge,” says Jonas. “Sometimes even just neat with an orange wedge.” “Reposado” means the tequila has been “rested” in oak for a few months. In that brief ageing process, the spirit picks up a hint of straw colour and a little vanilla and chocolate, which Varvatos says makes it unbelievably smooth. Aged in oak for a full year, Añejo tequila is gold in colour and has a rich, flavour profile that makes it ideal for pairing with chocolate and other desserts.
Although a love for high-quality craft tequila runs deep for both Varvatos and Jonas, the latter has a special reason for choosing it above other spirits: “Tequila has always been my go-to spirit. For me, as a person living with Type 1 diabetes, I feel like it was a natural fit given the low-calorie, carb, and sugar intake. And the taste was something I was really drawn to. Once I started understanding the process of distilling and making the tequila, my interest grew exponentially.”
