Villa One Tequila - Life As It Should Be
Celebrating “life as it should be” during a trip to Mexico in 2018, Nick Jonas and John Varvatos were inspired to embark on a new adventure and launch their own tequila brand. But like all good stories, there was much more to it, and most importantly, it started with a true friendship.
“John and I first met at a dinner party in New York about 6 years ago and really hit it off. We talked about life, creativity, and found out we had a lot in common and that we both really love tequila,” says Jonas. “We first started with a fashion collaboration, then did a fragrance together, and eventually we had this vision to bring Villa One to life.”
“We ended up taking a trip to Mexico in 2018 with some family and friends and it was there we decided to pursue this new adventure,” adds Varvatos. “The spirit of the property we were staying at, celebrating life, and the feeling of enjoyment of spending time with family and friends really inspired us, and that is where the ‘Life as It Should Be’ slogan came from.”
The idea quickly turned into a tangible venture with a name on that trip: Villa One. With an approach focused on authenticity, craftmanship, and rooted in passion, Jonas and Varvatos shared a vision of creating an ultra-premium tequila that was best in class but still accessible in price.
To ensure Villa One was crafted to the highest quality, utilizing traditional methods and was distributed and marketed effectively within the ever-evolving spirits landscape, Jonas and Varvatos partnered with Stoli Group and its Fabrica de Tequilas Finos distillery, which sits at the foot of Tequila Hill in Jalisco, Mexico. Production was led by Master Distiller, Arturo Fuentes, “The Godfather of Tequila,” who has more than three decades of distilling experience.
“We really leaned on Arturo and learned so much in the process,” shares Varvatos. “We worked side by side with him and went through many, many rounds of the taste test, about an 18-month process, to get us in a great place and we are very happy with the result.”
Villa One is made with artesian well water and only the finest, sustainably sourced, 100% blue weber agave, matured 5-7 years and sourced from both the Highland and Lowland regions.
“I think the cool part about Villa One is that we are one of only a handful of tequilas that uses agave from both the lowlands and the highlands, which gives it a really unique flavor profile,” says Jonas. “It combines some of those earthier notes with some of the sweeter notes from the highlands and it really just sets us apart.”
The tequila is offered in three expressions, Silver, Reposado, and Añejo, and the bottle itself was designed by Varvatos and Jonas and features fine jewelry-inspired metalwork around the neck that represents the signature style of the John Varvatos brand.
“The future looks very bright. We’re so excited about the early fan base we have cultivated just having launched about a year and a half ago,” says Jonas. Varvatos concludes, “The people who have tried it really love it and we’re so excited to continue to grow that and see more and more people make Villa One their top choice.”
