After years of unprecedented growth, the tequila industry has hit a rough patch. Supply is outpacing demand, the market is oversaturated with newcomers, celebrity brands dominate the conversation and the best independent arbiter of the category (The Additive-Free Alliance) was effectively neutered by the Mexican government, causing many brands to pull back from the group’s sought-after certification program. Oh, and tariffs are coming.
And yet, there are success stories. Mijenta is one of them. An additive-free, certified B Corp distillery (the first in the tequila industry) hailing from the highlands of Jalisco, the relative newcomer to the tequila biz has already racked up several awards (including a few accolades from us) and even got me to like a cristalino (a tall order). And that’s all in a matter of four years.
“When the brand started in 2020, we had a set of priorities and we wanted to build a concept of a tequila around that,” says Mike Dolan, Mijenta’s director of corporate communications (and son of co-founder Michael Dolan). “If we started our own company from a blank sheet of paper, what would that look like? We wanted this to be a brand that’s not just a great product but about making a positive impact in the world. And I think many of us coming from larger brands, the idea was a bit of a challenge to say, ‘hey, if the small brand can start and do things the right way, why can’t the bigger brands that have a lot more resources do things in a way that’s responsible?’”
We’ve been fans of Mijenta since its launch, but we wanted a closer look at their tequila-making process. So this past fall, we spent some time in Guadalajara (with a pit stop in Mexico City and Jalisco) with the brand, touring the distillery and tasting a few special things that will probably never come to market. We also toured some of Mijenta’s agave farming partners and got the inside scoop on Maestra Selection No. 1, the most interesting new tequila in years and our pick for the best tequila of 2024.

Maestra encapsulates the best of Mijenta: innovation, sustainability and, most importantly, taste. It was developed by the distillery’s Maestra Tequilera Ana María Romero, who basically created the tequila aroma wheel that’s become the industry standard in her 2007 book The Aromas of Tequila: The Art of Tasting. Her first Maestra bottle is a small-batch, limited-edition release crafted from agaves grown on a single estate in Presa de Otomites, located in Jesus Maria in the highlands of Jalisco. The agaves, which average approximately eight years old, feature a high natural sugar content and offer a richer and somewhat more tropical tasting experience than most blancos (the bolder 50% ABV doesn’t hurt, either). But the real secret is it’s the first mainstream tequila to be made solely from agaves de semilla, or agaves grown from seed.
While agaves can reproduce in three ways, most tequila brands have a preferred and (admittedly) more efficient method. “99% of the agaves used in tequila production are clones, or hijuelos,” Romero says. “Growing agave from seed represents an investment on the part of the agavero — it requires allowing the plant to grow a quiote, which flowers and produces the seeds that are pollinated by bats and other local species.”
The reason other distilleries aren’t keen on this method is the quiote represents the end of the plant’s life — it only happens once in the lifecycle of the agave, and when it does, it cannot be used to produce tequila again because its sugars are spent growing the stalk and flowers.

“We had two purposes in experimenting with using only agave de semilla: explore the flavors of the agave and shine a spotlight on some of the agricultural challenges in the industry,” Romero says. “When it comes to the taste profile, consumers are accustomed to drinking tequila made from clones. For this, I was thrilled by the depth of flavor, the nuances and the unique notes that can be found in these first-generation agaves. They are truly exceptional and reflect the stronger DNA that can be found in them, and I hope this expression expands consumers’ understanding of what is possible with the agave.” (Using clones weakens the genetic diversity of agaves over time and also makes the plants more susceptible to disease.)
Maestra Selection will be an ongoing experimental range from Romero, who says the ultimate goal is “to be as responsible as we can when it comes to producing our tequila and bring people’s attention to the challenges we all face.” And the company — co-created by former Bacardi CEO Michael Dolan, entrepreneur/mixologist Juan Coronado and sustainability designer Elise Som — certainly faces several challenges ahead in 2025.
Tariffs, to start, have been threatened by the incoming Trump administration but (as of this writing) are not codified or in place. But a more immediate concern has already come into play. Last year, Mexican authorities raided the offices of Tequila Matchmaker, an independent organization that helped certify brands as “additive-free.” Now, their Additive-Free Alliance no longer lists any tequilas that previously held this sought-after certification (though you can still find the list by scouring Reddit).
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From a breakfast-themed whiskey to a 48-hour Martini, there’s something here for all tastes and budgetsAt the distillery, members of Mijenta noted they had already started covering the additive-free label on the packaging, though the brand still touts its additive-free status on its website. Because consumers want this information — additive-free spirits are decidedly superior tasting and also represent better transparency about what’s in your drink — will Mijenta lose a major selling point?
“From the outset, we’ve been committed to making the highest quality tequila, which in our view is synonymous with being additive-free,” says CEO Michael Dolan. “We’re also committed to transparency about what goes into our tequila — agave, water and yeast. I can’t speculate about what may or may not happen from a regulatory perspective, but what I can say is additive-free is something consumers are passionate about. And that push for transparency is happening not just in tequila but across all categories, from food to fashion. So regardless of what happens in terms of official certifications, consumers are going to continue to find ways to identify brands that align with their preferences.”
Another current issue is there’s simply too much tequila. One brand owner told me last year that there’s a new tequila brand introduced every other day. Add in the over-saturation of celebs wanting to make (and sell) the next Casamigos, and we’ve got some serious agave spirits fatigue going on.

“At a macro level, the spirits industry is certainly struggling,” Michael admits. “However, tequila overall is significantly outpacing spirits in general, and within the tequila category, Ultra Premium+ continues to be the growth driver.” And it’s here where Mijenta’s continued championing of its additive-free status serves as an advantage.
“When we look at Nielsen data in more granular detail, the contrast is striking,” Michael adds. “Additive-free brands are growing at a rate of around 10-times the overall tequila category. By contrast, celebrity brands are declining rapidly — both losing market share and cutting prices. So I think the correction you mentioned is happening, but it’s a tale of two cities, where higher-quality, more authentic brands are connecting with consumers, while big celebrity and legacy brands are crashing.”
As we face a troubling 2025 in the drinks industry, these corrections could make the tequila market stronger by weeding out non-transparent newcomers and brands that live off name value alone. “I think our brand has resonated not just because Ana María has done such a phenomenal job crafting a top-tier tequila but because we’re also a brand that has a purpose,” Michael says (their sustainability and ethos page is worth a read; not mentioned but interesting — the brand recently started helping to protect jaguar habitats in Ecuador). “We were founded on values like a commitment to sustainability and giving back to local communities.”
And so far, those values have helped — and should continue to help — Mijenta weather a challenging year ahead.
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