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Forbes

Tequila's Continued Growth Encourages New Launches—Here Are 5 To Try

Margaritas may be trending as the drink of the summer for 2025, but that's not stopping a bounty of premium sipping tequilas from entering the market. As the only spirits category to experience growth within the last year—up 1.3 percent year-over-year since March 2024 according to Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA)—tequila's momentum makes it an exciting time for existing brands to release fresh expressions and new brands to enter the market. There's 'an undeniable cultural cachet' that surrounds tequila, shares Alba Huerta, cocktail educator, and owner of Julep Houston. 'People have a deep, enduring love for Mexico—its traditions, craftsmanship, and sense of place, and tequila captures all of that. Its heritage creates a constant pull to tell new stories within the category.' From 2019 to 2024, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for global tequila volume was up seven percent, according to IWSR, the global leader in beverage alcohol data and insights. The majority of that growth, Adam Rogers, IWSR research director for North America, tells Forbes , has occurred in the reposado and cristalino offerings. 'Compared to anejo, reposados are currently providing consumers a better quality-to-price ratio,' shares Rogers. 'That's important in today's difficult economic environment where share of wallet is tightened.' Producers are also capitalizing on a volatile global market as the price of Mexican agave has declined 'massively from the highs during the pandemic,' explains Marten Lodewijks, U.S. president of IWSR. Even though the market may seem saturated, it's actually a more opportune time for tequila producers to launch new products, relying on innovation to differentiate themselves. 'New brands will often use differentiating attributes such as organic, single origin, or different packaging and bottle types,' says Rogers. These new releases have been prevalent within the first half of 2025, especially throughout spring and early summer. Below, discover five new premium tequilas—four of which debuted in June alone—that will have you sipping, not mixing, the agave spirit all summer long. OLUJO Olujo Tequila Launched this past week, OLUJO introduced their new, high-craft tequila brand to the market with the release of its first expression, OLUJO Añejo. Founded by entrepreneur Adam Weitsman, in collaboration with Larsa Pippen and Oliver Camilo, the brand's name stems from the Spanish term luxury—' lujo' —as it's crafted for the discerning palate, not the masses. The agave is slow-cooked in stainless steel autoclaves, fermented in copper and stainless-steel tanks, and double-distilled in copper pot stills to ensure preservation of its nuanced character. The resulting tequila is then aged for 18 months in American oak barrels for a final liquid imbued with notes of vanilla, caramel, toasted almond, slight tobacco and sweet agave. The amber liquid is concealed by a ceramic decanter designed by sculptor Ivan Venkov; a conscious brand choice to pay homage to Mexico's artisanal traditions. SRP $500. Tequila Leyenda 1925 Leyenda Tequila 1925 Crafted by three cousins, Julio, Juan, and Montse González from Los Altos de Jalisco, Leyenda 1925 is another new release from this past week. Though the brand is new, Leyenda 1925's heritage dates back nearly 100 years to the cousins' grandfather and his legacy of agave cultivation and tequila-making. The inaugural collection presents a complete offering of blanco, reposado and añejo tequila; the reposado is aged for eight months in white oak barrels for a tequila with velvet-like texture and woody complexity while the añejo spends 18 months in white oak for a resulting full-bodied sip with layers of cacao and dried fruit. Profits from certain distillery tours and tastings will help raise funds for Jaltepec, an organization that empowers women in vulnerable situations through education and career development. Clase Azul Blanco Ahumado Clase Azul Blanco Ahumado Diego Camacho At the beginning of the month, Clase Azul México added a new icon to their renowned portfolio of premium tequilas and mezcals. The new release is a blanco tequila with a surprisingly smoky profile for an unaged tequila—something master distiller Viridiana Tinoco sought to achieve from the beginning. Tinoco and her team successfully achieved their desired result by reviving an ancestral method of cooking blue agave cores in an underground pit with lit firewood and volcanic rocks; the flames hardly touch the agave as the rocks transmit the necessary heat for it to cook. This technique imparts a subtle smokey profile, vaguely reminiscent of mezcal, all while preserving the undeniable green and herbal character of blue agave. For a further nod to the ancestral method, the bottom of the decanter sits on volcanic pumice for a striking presentation and reminder of the process that makes this Blanco Ahumado possible. SRP $250 Maestro Dobel Atelier Animales Endémicos Maestro Dobel In 2022, Maestro Dobel launched their limited-edition Atelier collection as a way to honor traditional Mexican craftsmanship. This year, in mid-June, Maestro Dobel unveiled the third edition of Dobel Atelier as Animales Endémicos; six hand-painted bottles in vivid, dotted patterns akin to the technique used to decorate alebrijes , or small figurines of fantastical, Oaxcan creatures. Each bottle is painted with one of six native Mexican species—the axolotl, jaguar, monarch butterfly, dwarf jay, Tamaulipas owl, or Mexican wolf that are assigned randomly for each purchase—houses an extra añejo that rests for three years in both new American and European oak. The new oak infuses unique layers of toasted coffee and baking spices to this highly collectible bottle of tequila. SRP $250 Escasa Escasa Tequila In April, Luxco, Inc. debuted Escasa, an ultra-premium sipping tequila in two variations: blanco and reposado. The single estate, triple-distilled tequilas use heirloom yeast and Bagazo fibers to enhance the depth and complexity of the flavors during fermentation. Further, Escasa reposado is the first of its kind as it's aged in formed Albariño wine barrels from the Rias Baixas region of Spain. "As a wine lover, I am always trying diverse wines from where my travels take me," says master distiller Grace Gonzalez. "One thing I love about tequila and Albariños are the minerals and crisp flavors of both… I knew the pairing would be a great match." The reposado offers a spiced palate of clove and molasses with delicate floral layers (SRP $119.99). Escasa Tequila Blanco presents a pure agave profile with a silky texture that finishes with a juicy pineapple note (SRP $99.99).