I love (sorry, LOVE) tequila, but it’s started to bore me. There are hundreds of new brands every year — even some without celebrities — and most of them fail to differentiate themselves. Which might be a reason there are only 150 to 200 distilleries but more than 2,000 tequila brands.
That said, I’ve stumbled upon eight really good tequilas in the last 12 months that I had almost zero knowledge of before the year began. And as 2025 comes to an end and I’m going back through my bottle collection, it seems like a good time to share the most interesting expressions I tasted. (Some tequilas not mentioned here but reviewed recently and enthusiastically include Escasa and Volans.)
A few caveats: This is not a “best of 2025” list — we have a time for that. Some of these brands are old (one is 125 years and counting!), but I’m either new to the distillery, or the brand has just released something new of interest. And I purposely avoided tequilas I’m overly familiar with, which leaves out the likes of Mijenta, G4, El Tesoro, etc. (If you need a list of tequilas we like that are probably easier to find than the ones below, check out this list.)
These are simply tequilas that intrigued and beguiled me during the last 12 months for one reason or another. Hopefully, this list can help you discover something of interest as well.
Tequila Arette
Located at the historic El Llano Distillery at the foothills of the dormant Tequila volcano, the Arette brand has been around since 1986. But the distillery itself dates back to 1900. This year, the family-owned Arette released an artesanal blanco aged seven years in glass in El Llano’s original aging room. If you can’t find that release (Arette Aniversario 125), you can still stick with the distillery’s elevated Artesanal line, which features a checklist of ideal tequila production: estate-grown agaves, mineral-rich spring water sourced near the volcano, five- to six-day natural fermentation in concrete, double distillation in alambique pot stills and aged expressions rested in former bourbon barrels.
Drink: Arette Fuerte Artesanal 101, a high-proof take on their blanco that offers a rich mouthfeel, intense and sweet cooked agave note, and a nice amount of minerality and peppery spice.
Laelia
Named after the Mexican orchid and inspired by the pre-Hispanic, ceremonial flower songs of the Nahua, Laelia debuted this year from Casa Natima, which is fully owned and operated by a 100% Mexican-led team. They harvest their own agaves and use methods both traditional (brick-oven cooking, tahona extraction, natural fermentation with a portion of agave fiber from the tahona) and modern (the distillery is powered by 100% renewable energy).
Drink: While I love the blanco, which is rested for a few weeks in American white oak barrels so it develops a lovely hint of caramel, it’s the Añejo that really shines. Matured in French white oak, this is a drier, more tannic take on an aged tequila with hints of cocoa, cherry, oak spice and apple.
The Last Drop
If you’re a whiskey drinker, you’re possibly familiar with The Last Drop, a curator of rare spirits that we’ve featured a few times. But this year marked the release of the company’s 40th release overall and its first tequila, created by Carmen Villarreal Treviño, the first woman to lead a tequila distillery and the owner/operator of Casa San Matías, one of Mexico’s oldest family-owned distilleries (and a pioneer of the extra añejo category).
Drink: The Last Drop Release No. 40 Extra Añejo Tequila, a relatively high-proof (46.3% ABV) blend of two tequilas aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels and one aged for seven years in a port pipe. The final result maintains its agave character but also features notes of salted caramel, spiced oak, cloves, dried fruits and a bit of florality.
Lágrimas del Valle
While 95% of tequila is sourced from Jalisco, the single-estate releases from Lagrimas del Valle also hail from states like Guanajuato and Michoacán. The terroir-focused brand produces single-year, single-field vintages and teams up with a variety of distilleries.
Drink: 2024 La Loma Plata is produced in partnership with the Rosales Family (NOM 1123). Bottled at 92 proof, this expression features notes of lemon, pepper, honey and cooked agave, with a hint of salinity and a brightness (the reposado is just as good).
The 50 Best Bottles of Tequila
We tested entirely too much tequila to identify the ideal bottles for sipping, shots and cocktails, including a few surprises
Wild Common
This Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based tequila company was founded by National Geographic photographer Andy Bardon in 2021, who partnered with the Rosales family at the Cascahuin (NOM 1123) distillery. No surprise, that there’s a sustainability element central to the brand: They use biodegradable wodo tops, and 100% of the bottles are made with recycled glass in Mexico near the distillery. Interestingly, Wild Common crafts both small-batch tequila and mezcal.
Drink: This year, Wild Common released an Añejo, a higher-proof (47% ABV), additive-free expression that was aged for more than 12 months in ex-bourbon barrels. It’s a wonderful menagerie of cooked agave, caramel, baking spices, butterscotch and orange zest.
CasAzar
Launched in November 2024 by former Diageo execs Max Ramirez and Viviana Sierraalta-Ramirez, this husband-and-wife team went big on design. The porcelain bottles feature real gold accents and were inspired by a stack of casino chips. It’s the most eye-catching bottle of the year.
Drink: The Reposado is certainly not traditional, but it offers a rich mouthfeel, plenty of agave flavor and, unexpectedly, a hint of lime.
Cambio
A culinary take on tequila, Cambio is led by Chicago-based chef John des Rosiers. An additive-free tequila made in conjunction with ZB Distillery (NOM 1605), Cambio touts its 10-point creation process, “Método Refinado,” where the brand claims they “approach every step thoughtfully, looking for opportunities to make subtle changes” (think non-traditional yeasts, longer agave cooking, American white oak and Mexican pine fermentation tanks). But really, it’s the barrel maturations that make it different.
Drink: The Reposado is aged for a month in Burgundy and Bordeaux barrels and then for five more months in French oak chardonnay casks, which explains the buttery mouthfeel. It complements the cooked agave and caramel notes you’d expect from a reposado.
Tierra de Ensueño
Resting a blanco tequila is totally allowed. But newcomer Tierra de Ensueno takes it to the limit, with some resting that lasts just a bit less than the two-month limit (before it becomes a reposado). The brand is led by Sergio Cruz and Oscar Vasquez Camarena, and each small batch is handcrafted in the highlands of Jalisco and yields just 2,000 bottles.
Drink: Batch 8 is rested for 30 days in wheated bourbon casks. It’s a nice mix of what both unaged and aged tequila has to offer: It’s vegetal on the nose with lots of minerality and a bit of orange zest, but the mouthfeel is creamy and the palate offers hints of caramel, toasted oak and sweet potato.
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