In this article, we will discuss the 21 Best Tequila Brands of 2023. To skip our industry overview and see the top 5 tequila brands, click 5 Best Tequila Brands of 2023.
Every spirit has its time in the spotlight—sometimes more than once—and much like whiskey in the pre-prohibition era, rum in the midcentury tiki craze, and vodka in the sixties and seventies, tequila is currently the star of the spirits world. A spirit to be sipped and favored as opposed to being consumed in shot form, tequila is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, approximately 65km northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the central western Mexican state of Jalisco. The spirit is divided into different categories, including blanco (unaged), reposado (aged between 2 to 12 months), añejo (aged between 1 to 3 years), and extra añejo (aged more than 3 years).
The second-fastest growing spirits category in 2021, both Tequila and mezcal are set to dethrone vodka as America's favorite spirits. According to a report by the Distilled Spirits Council, the super-premium category of tequila has more than quadrupled in sales in the last 10 years, becoming the second fastest-grown spirits category, while its volume has skyrocketed by 235% since 2003 with an average rate of 6.9% per year. The spirit industry as a whole seems to be booming, with even legacy alcohol firms broadening their portfolios in order to penetrate this lucrative market. (see also 10 Best Alcohol Stocks To Buy.)
For our list of the 21 best tequila brands of 2023, we scoured through numerous Reddit threads alongside gathering information from credible sources, including Rolling Stone, Vinepair, and Tequila Afficionado, and chose their consensus picks. Each brand mentioned on this list has years, decades, and even centuries worth of history distilling tequila.
Calle 23 is a Mexican tequila brand that was founded in 2009 by Sophie Decobecq, a French biochemist who moved to Mexico to pursue her passion for tequila. The brand is named after the street address of the distillery where the tequila is made in the town of El Arenal, in the highlands of Jalisco. Compared to most other tequila brands, Calle 23 uses different yeast strains in the fermentation process, which gives each type of tequila a distinct flavor profile. For instance, the blanco tequila is fermented using a champagne yeast, which gives it a fruity, floral aroma, while the reposado tequila is fermented using a different yeast strain, which gives it a more complex, earthy flavor.
Known for its iconic blue and white bottles that are designed to resemble Mexican pottery and are adorned with intricate, colorful artwork, Clase Azul offers a variety of top-notch tequilas, including reposado, añejo and gold varieties. Each bottle is individually crafted by skilled artisans, making every bottle a one-of-a-kind work of art.
Casa Dragones is a small-batch tequila producer that crafts some of the smoothest tequilas on the market that are made from 100% blue agave and are meant for sipping. The female-owned and led brand was co-founded by CEO Bertha González Nieves, the first female maestra tequilera certified by the Mexican Academy of Tequila Tasters.
Now owned by Becle, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV:CUERVO), 1800 Tequila has been distilling for 223 years as of 2023, and they offer the traditional blanco, reposado and añejo forms of Tequila that one would expect from such an historic producer. The brand has reportedly sold more than 2 million 9 liter cases around the globe.
Created by bartenders Henry Besant and Dre Masso in partnership with maestro tequilero Jesús Hernandez, Olmeca Altos produces plata, reposado, and añejo tequilas in the Destilería Colonial de Jalisco in Los Altos. Their reposado and añejo tequilas are aged in ex-bourbon barrels, thus putting forward a modern approach to tequila while honoring age-old traditions. According to sales results from Pernod Ricard SA (EPA:RI), Olmeca Altos appears to be one of the strategic local brands that rose by 18% across FY22.
Tapatio is the flagship brand of the renowned La Alteña Distillery, founded in Jalisco, Mexico, in 1937 by Don Felipe Camarena. Today, the brand is still owned by the Camarena family, and Don Felipe's grandson Carlos continues the legacy as master distiller. The tequilas are crafted through an artisanal process where the piñas, or sugar-rich hearts, are allowed to ferment slowly along with the residual pulp, and then lets the finished blanco sit in steel tanks for six months. The result is a distinctive tequila that is full-bodied and spicy.
A brand in the Beam Suntory portfolio, a subsidiary of Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (TYO:2587), Sauza was founded in 1873 when Don Cenobio Sauza started La Perseverancia distillery. One of the most affordable tequila brands that offers silver, gold and añejo varieties to suit any taste, Sauza crafts all of its tequilas using a process known as gentle extraction, which involves using the nectar of pure weber blue agave and cooking the juices after they’ve been extracted from the piña. The brand reportedly sold around a million 9 liter cases in 2021.
Founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the Teremana brand crafts its tequilas in a small Mexican town up in the highest peaks of the Jalisco Highlands. The agaves for the tequila are roasted in brick ovens for three days before shredding to extract the juices for fermentation, following which the tequila is distilled in handmade copper pot stills made by local artisans. The brand boasts numerous awards for its products, including the Gold for both the 2022 Bartender Spirits Awards and the World Spirits Competition.
Hornitos, one of the best-selling tequila brands in the world, has been in the tequila business for over a decade and a half. Reporting a 21.4% sales boost from 2020 to 2021, Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (TYO:2587)'s brand has also begun to dabble in the increasingly lucrative ready-to-drink market. A well-respected tequila brand that is known for its high-quality, innovative products and premium marketing, Hornitos has won numerous awards for its tequila, including the Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Gold Medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition.
Founded in 1870 in Amatitán, Jalisco, near the base of a volcano, Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B)'s Herradura is credited with inventing certain types of tequila: the sweet reposado and the bold, extra añejo. The name itself means “horseshoe” in Spanish, referencing the common symbol of good luck. The brand's tequilas are available in four vintages, aged between 45 days and 49 months, though each is made with 100% agave and aged in oak barrels.
Espolòn, part of the Davide Campari-Milano N.V. (BIT:CPR) family, is an inexpensive tequila option that sips far beyond its price point with notes of agave and spice. Situated in the Los Altos region of Jalisco, Espolòn is a multi-award-winning brand, with a somewhat unique approach to making tequila: cutting agave hearts into four pieces instead of two, and aging the tequila in smaller-than-average oak barrels. The brand reportedly sold 1.1 million 9 litre cases through 2021.
Casa Noble, owned by Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ), is a premium tequila brand that used toasted French oak instead of American oak to age its tequila for a refined and elegant flavor. The brand underwent a redesign in 2021, changing the bottles from their former squat, boxy shape to more elegant decanter-style glass. The liquid has been updated as well, with a focus on barrel selection and blending. According to founder and master distiller Jose “Pepe” Hermosillo, this means the reposado and añejo expressions are created by “selecting different barrels according to characteristics and integrating up to 14 lots to create complexity and balance.”
A favorite of both bartenders and agave aficionados, El Tesoro's entire lineup ranks among the best in the tequila category. The brand, part of the Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (TYO:2587) family, has a long history dating back to the 1930s. From blanco to añejo, El Tesoro produces excellent sipping tequilas, with vegetal notes that play nicely with the sweet agave undercurrent.
The brand is known for its traditional production methods, which include using traditional stone ovens to cook the agave, a tahona (a large stone wheel) to crush the agave, and copper pot stills for distillation. The brand offers a range of tequilas, including blanco, reposado, anejo, and extra anejo. The tequilas are made from 100% blue weber agave, which is grown on the estate owned by the brand's founder, Guillermo Sauza.
Named after the skilled workers, or "jimadors," who harvest the agave plants used to make tequila, El Jimador is known for its high-quality, 100% blue weber agave tequilas, which are produced using traditional methods and aged in oak barrels. The tequila brand, which is owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B), recorded volume sales of 1.4 million 9 liter cases worldwide in 2021.
Founded in 1922 in Arandas and a part of the Bacardi portfolio, Cazadores is one of the most popular premium tequilas in Mexico and the United States. Made from 100% blue agave, Cazadores tequila undergoes a seven-step sustainable, zero-waste production process that includes double distillation, double fermentation and careful maturation. This past year, the brand celebrated the 100th anniversary of its original tequila recipe.
Click to continue reading and see 5 Best Tequila Brands of 2023.
Suggested articles:
Disclosure: None. 21 Best Tequila Brands of 2023 is originally published on Insider Monkey.
