Tequila stopped being just a party spirit a while ago. The bottles people are reaching for now are made to be poured slowly, neat or over one big cube, and tasted the way you would a good whisky.
It is a small part of the catalogue, but it pulls well above its weight, and a handful of bottles have become firm favourites that keep coming up again and again. So here they are, the sipping tequilas worth your money right now, with a fresh arrival at the end.
One label tip before the list. If you want tequila made only from agave, look for 100% de agave on the bottle. Anything without it can be a mixto, cut with other sugars. Every bottle below is 100% agave.
Olmeca Altos: the one to start with
If you are moving from margaritas to sipping, Olmeca Altos is the easiest place to begin. It is made in the highlands of Jalisco from slow-cooked agave, and it does not cost the earth. The Plata is bright and grassy, all cooked agave, citrus and pepper, and it makes a properly good Paloma.
Step up to the Reposado or the Añejo and you get soft vanilla and caramel over that same clean agave core. This is the bottle to buy first, learn on, and keep pouring.
Drink it: Plata in a Paloma, Reposado neat or in a Tommy's Margarita.
Don Julio Añejo: the crowd-pleaser
Don Julio Añejo is the bottle that turns whisky drinkers into tequila drinkers. Around eighteen months in oak gives it warmth and roundness without burying the agave. Expect honey, dried fruit, toffee and a gentle spice on the finish.
It is reliable rather than showy, which is exactly why it works. Pour it neat after dinner and it holds its own next to a good bourbon or aged rum.
Drink it: Neat, at room temperature, in a small glass.
Maya Pistola Extra Añejo: the one having a moment
This one jumped out of nowhere on our pages this week, and it is easy to see why. Extra Añejo means more than three years in oak, and Maya Pistola uses that time well. It leans rich and dessert-like, dark chocolate, espresso, vanilla and polished wood, while keeping a thread of roasted agave running through the middle.
This is a slow pour for the end of the evening, not a mixer. If you like deeply aged spirits and want to see how far tequila can go, this is the one to try.
Drink it: Neat, no ice, treated like a fine aged spirit.
Clase Azul: the special occasion bottle
Yes, you are partly paying for the hand-painted ceramic decanter. But behind the bottle there is a genuinely soft, sweet, approachable tequila, all cooked agave, vanilla and caramel, made to charm rather than challenge.
It is the bottle you bring out when there is something to celebrate, or when you want a gift that lands the moment it comes out of the box. The Reposado is the everyday hero of the range, while the older Añejo and Extra Añejo expressions climb into serious money.
Drink it: Neat, slowly, when the occasion calls for it.
Just in: 818 Blanco
New to the catalogue this week is 818 Tequila Blanco, the celebrity-founded brand that has become hard to ignore. Set the backstory aside and the Blanco is a clean, approachable unaged tequila, soft cooked agave, a little citrus, gentle pepper, built to be easy rather than intense.
It is more of a mixing and entry-level sipping tequila than a contemplative one, and that is no bad thing. If you are building out a cabinet, it slots in nicely alongside the aged bottles above as your go-to for Margaritas and Palomas.
Drink it: In a Margarita, a Paloma, or chilled over ice.
How to sip tequila properly
Forget the salt and the lime wedge for these. Good tequila is made to be tasted, not knocked back.
- •Use a proper glass: a small tumbler or a copita concentrates the aromas far better than a shot glass.
- •Room temperature for aged bottles: chilling a good añejo mutes the very flavours you paid for. Save the ice for blancos in long drinks.
- •Give it a minute: let it sit and open up before the first sip, the same way you would a whisky.
Start with a blanco or a reposado to learn the agave, then work up to the aged bottles when you want richness and depth. The best way to understand any producer is to try the same house across a couple of styles.