Tour40923996564
27 Jul 2023
Jesus, our guide, was amazing!! He was very knowledgeable and courteous. All aspects of the trip were great. Highly recommend it.
After looking through the various excursion groups on Trip Advisor, I ultimately settled on this one, and selected this particular trip because of the places we had the chance to visit. We were staying locally, but our driver and guide (shout out to Jesus!) still picked us up at our AirBNB. From there we went through the city and out into the countryside. We drove through a number of villages, stopping occasionally for Jesus to tell us about the village, its history, or a particular site. The two main stops I recall are where we were able to meet a horse trainer with 45 years of experience in training dancing horses (and even saw a dance on a nearly fully trained and ready to go stallion) and see some of how he trains the horses and meet some of the ones he currently had onsite; the other was when we stopped outside of a beautiful small cemetery which included a few mausoleums dedicated to famous individuals or families, and learned more about local traditions surrounding the dead and how they are treated long after they are gone. After the first few villages, we made our way to the distillery, where the lovely Patricio took over and guided us on a tour of the Los Osuna distillery, teaching us all about the history of the distillery, the process, their products, and the overall dedication to their craft. The tour included 3 shots of tequila, with 6 to choose from (2 agave spirits, 4 liqueurs), and the option to purchase additional shots of the six as well as the four agave spirits which were not available to select as one of the included shots. Once done here, Jesus took us to another village, gave us a driving tour (as it was too hot that day to walk), ending at a well known restaurant. We chose to have lunch included when we booked, and this included one drink and one food item/entree, and anything else we could purchase on our own. The food was excellent - just keep in mind that the one food item may not entirely cover the cost of certain specialty dishes, but all you pay is the difference. After this, all that was left was a sleepy drive back to the city where we were dropped off back at our door.
My only other recommendation is to prepare for more gratuity than just your driver/guide - we tipped both the horse trainer and our guide for the distillery tour! Also keep in mind that calling the agave spirit tequila is not quite right, but essentially if you like tequila or mezcal, you will like this. It's a blue agave spirit, like tequila, but not made in Tequila, so technically a mezcal. It's complicated, just don't overthink it and enjoy yourself!
Here's the scoop:
Our tour guide was good, but the scheduled stops were a mixed bag. The local cheese maker felt like an intrusion, no activities. The same story with the candy maker. It lacked the tour vibe.
The horse stable stole the show. Horses dancing? Mind-blowing! Not much of a "tour", but the keeper entertained us and the kids loved it.
The tequila tasting was average and more self-guided. Definitely does not compare to the Jose Cuervo tour in Tequila, MX.
Lunch at the restaurant was delish, try the Molcajete (cost extra but was worth it!) Beware, pushy vendors. The "Silver" shop was meh, and the shoes from the leather shop were low quality.
Overall, if you're up for exploring the different towns, go for it. But expect a day of driving and unexciting stops. Short on time? Stick to Mazatlan and the islands. Happy travels!