Region & History

In Jalisco stand haciendas dating back to the 18th century. In Queensland stands a fence built in 2020. Between Airlie Beach and the sugarcane town of Bowen, the Australian company Top Shelf International began building an agave farm that year. There was no tradition here, just an empty field. The idea behind it was simple: Blue Weber Agave should also grow on the other side of the world.

Bowen was chosen because its climate is remarkably similar to that of Jalisco: plenty of sun, a dry winter, hardly any frost. The empty field became the Eden Lassie farm. According to company figures, more than half a million agaves now stand there, the largest area outside Mexico. What began as an experiment to see whether the plant could even grow in the tropical north became Australia's largest agave project.

The name Tequila has officially belonged to Mexico since 1974, enshrined in its own designation of origin and, since 1978, internationally recognized under the Lisbon Agreement. Australia has no dedicated law for agave spirits, but it does honor that protection. What's distilled in Queensland from the piña, the heart of the agave, can therefore never be called Tequila, even when the same plant and similar methods are behind it. Instead, it's sold as Agave Spirit, a catch-all term for anything produced outside the protected Mexican regions.

In 2022, Top Shelf unveiled the brand name Act of Treason. In January 2024, the First Harvest Blanco became the first Australian Agave Spirit to hit the market. According to press reports, it sold out within a day. The road to that point wasn't a straight one. In 2025, Top Shelf International ran into financial trouble and entered administration. The beverage company Blue Sky Drinks then took over the farm and the brand. The agaves themselves were unaffected and continue to grow on the same red fields to this day.