Carlos Pechieu, chief commercial officer of Volcan de mi Tierra, told Just Drinks on November 13, 2026, that craft tequila could reach 20 to 25 percent of the super premium category, up from about 10 percent today.
The interview, conducted by Just Drinks writer Fiona Holland, examined how American drinkers are trading up within tequila and where Pechieu believes smaller, craft-positioned producers stand to gain as that shift continues.
What Pechieu told Just Drinks about craft tequila's share
Pechieu's central figure concerned the size of the craft tier inside the broader super premium bracket. He told the outlet that craft tequila is now 10% of super-premium Tequila, and I believe craft Tequila can be up to 20 to 25%. He linked that growth to a trend he said is now well established, telling Just Drinks that premiumisation within the category is happening and will continue to happen.
Asked where he sees the clearest opening, Pechieu pointed to smaller markets where overall tequila volume is low but awareness of craft positioning is already in place, citing Italy as a market that is a very small Tequila market yet, in his words, its craft proposition is well understood. He argued that as the category matures, smaller producers including Volcan will have a bigger opportunity to talk to consumers directly about quality.
How Volcan de mi Tierra fits into tequila's premium tiers
Volcan de mi Tierra is a joint venture between LVMH's Moet Hennessy division and Mexico's Gallardo family. According to The Spirits Business, the brand was established in 2017 as a collaborative effort between the two parties, built around a distillery the Gallardo family operates near the Tequila volcano in Jalisco. The same outlet reported in 2024 that the United States represents 85% of sales for Volcan de mi Tierra, with Pechieu at the time describing the brand as a craft brand, a niche brand that is still in discovery mode.
The company has since pushed further up the price ladder. The Spirits Business reported that Volcan de mi Tierra released Blanco Tahona, made by crushing agave with a two ton volcanic stone wheel, at a recommended retail price of US$153 in 2024. The brand has also moved into limited runs positioned well above its core Blanco, Reposado and Cristalino lineup, including a marble clad expression covered by The Luxe Review in 2026.
What is documented and what is not
The 10 percent and 20 to 25 percent figures Pechieu cited to Just Drinks are his own characterization of the craft segment's size within super premium tequila. The published interview does not attribute those numbers to a named research firm, syndicated data set, or public filing, and no such source has yet surfaced corroborating the specific share Pechieu described. Separately, Volcan de mi Tierra's own CEO, Santiago Cortina Gallardo, told The Spirits Business in a piece published in December 2025 that the company was shifting its commercial focus away from framing itself as a prestige tequila and toward leading what he called the craft segment, a positioning that lines up with Pechieu's comments to Just Drinks roughly a year later.
What this means
Pechieu's numbers describe an ambition more than an audited market share, and nothing published so far ties the 20 to 25 percent figure to independent data. The broader claim, that premium tequila buyers are moving toward smaller, estate-linked producers, is consistent with how houses such as Tequila Ocho and Siete Leguas, both carrying some of the highest scores in Tequila Watch's database, are already discussed in the trade. Whether Volcan's own volume, reported in the low hundreds of thousands of cases as recently as late 2025, can scale inside that craft framing without diluting it is the open question worth watching.