27 Popular Tequila Brands,Taste Tasted and Ranked
Tequila is a misunderstood spirit. There are so many brands out there with beautiful bottles, buzzy words, and clever advertising, that it can be difficult to narrow down the best one based purely on taste. There are a lot of fantastic tequila brands out there, and if you're busy being swayed by a name or an ad rather than getting a little experimental, you're missing out on some potentially really great sips.
To find the tequila that really works for you and your taste, you've got to put in the work. Figure out which one speaks to you from an aroma, flavor, and texture perspective, which one seems like it could complement your favorite tequila-based cocktail, and which one feels like a painful hangover in the making.
Because there are hundreds of tequilas and each one tends to have at least three different age expressions — blanco, reposado, añejo, extra añejo, you know the drill — we did a blind tasting of 29 of the most popular tequila brands, blancos only. We considered factors like aroma and taste, ignoring things like marketing speak and price, which can end up impacting the types of spirits we choose to enjoy in the first place. Read on to see which tequila reigns supreme when our eyes are closed, and each brand can only rely on the liquid in the bottle to prove it's truly the best.
Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.
19.- Alto Canto
With beautiful, crisp notes of melon and honey on the nose and a little bit of pine and oak in there, too, Alto Canto is well-deserving of its spot in the middle of this blind-tasting ranking. The aroma is fresh and fruity, with some hints of vanilla bean and banana and a wisp of mint after a few swirls in the glass. The flavor is herbaceous and a little grassy, but with heavy notes of pepper on the finish that results in a pleasant, albeit spicy, finish.
I found myself going back for extra sips of this one, intrigued by the sweetness on the nose but the vegetal flavor overall. There's something to be said for a blanco that has so many conflicting aromatic and flavor notes, but I enjoyed the contrast each time I went back for more.
