We took a nicely-done tour of this tequila distillery. Orendain is different from the other two large-scale productions in the town because it's Mexican-owned. (Jose Cuervo is owned by Germans and Sauza is owned by Japanese). The tour starts at the central plaza of the town of Tequila. Be careful because a number of different tour operators will approach you and you really have to be specific that you want Orendain, not another brand. They start at ambiguous times, but generally around the noon hour.
The English speaking tour guide provided a background to the history of the town as we were driven out in their barrel-shaped, fun, coach out to the factory. The Orendain tour demonstrated how agave cores are pressure-steamed, crushed, fermented and distilled. The tour was quite well explained and I felt quite enlightened. However, I recommend you do some reading about the history of the settlement of the town because it adds to the whole experience (it starts in the 1500's with bloody battles between the Spanish army and the indigenous led by a priest, and continues to the 20th century industrialization).
The tequila tour ends at their store, where you get really good prices on the amazing bottles of tequila and liqueurs (tequila suffused with coffee, almonds, and apricots). read more