The 10 Best Reposado Tequilas to Drink Right Now
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Until fairly recently, reposados were the most popular tequila expressions in Mexico. And while the style has been pushed aside by cristalino—aged tequilas that are filtered to strip out their color and create a different flavor profile—reposados remain a great option because of their versatility. These tequilas, aged for two to 11 months (if these agave distillations spend any more time in a barrel, by law they become a?ejos), are equally adept in cocktails, paired with food, or simply sipped neat. But that time brief time in casks and the types of barrels used give reposado tequilas their individuality and appeal. Here, then, are the best of the reposados that you should be drinking.
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Best Overall Reposado Tequila: El Negocio Reposado
“Sustainability” and “additive free” have become buzzwords for the tequila industry, which has tasked itself with touting the purity of its products. But El Negocio actually backs up its big talk with technique. For its additive-free reposado, the brand sources drought-resistant tierra negra agaves from Jalisco’s mineral-rich Lowland region. It then adheres to the ancient processes of brick-oven cooking and retains tahona stone crushing for 30 percent of its agaves. El Negocio is produced by Napa Valley vintner Adam Craun—co-founder of the 100-point cult powerhouse Memento Mori Cabernet Sauvignon—in partnership with master distiller Chava Rosales. This reposado is aged for four months in Memento Mori French oak wine barrels producing a sensuous tequila, interlaced with essences of agave, honeyed oak, and chocolate-coated caramels.
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Best Reposado Tequila for Margaritas: Reserva de la Familia
It takes the best ingredients to make the best Margaritas and bumping your base spirit up a notch to reposados rather than blancos can elevate the experience. The flavor of your cocktail will be further heightened with Reserva de la Familia‘s organic reposado. It has been aged up to six months using a unique combination of three different types of wood and toasting styles: heavily-toasted American oak adds flavors of baking spices, while lightly toasted American and French oak barrels create mellow essences of toffee and vanilla. All of these combine to produce a deeply flavorful reposado version of this 1930’s cocktail.
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Best Reposado for Sipping: Loco ámbar
We’re huge fans of the outstanding blanco Loco Puro Corazón, so it was not surprising that the brand has turned its unaged tequila into a stellar reposado. The distillate is rested in four different types of barrels: Ex-Irish whisky/stout beer barrels emit notes of honey, malt, and buttery roasted grains; Tawny port casks provide delicate nut-like components mixed with dried fruit; Pedro Ximenez sherry casks offer floral, herbal notes; and new French oak barrels emit essences of vanilla and spice. Aged from six to 11 months—depending on when Maestro Tequilero Alberto Navarro determines that the tequilas in each of these barrels have reached their flavorful peaks—they are then blended into one seamless reposado with the combined aromas of a moist forest floor that mingles with a multitude of flavors enveloped with apples and cedar.
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Best Reposado for Cocktails: Casa Noble
Casa Noble’s founder and master distiller Pepe Hermosillo does things a little bit differently than most other tequileros—from using all certified organic ingredients, to distilling his tequila three times (surpassing the legally required double distillation), to personally selecting the French oak barrels he uses for aging his reposado. The result is a harmonious melding of lemongrass, floral sweetness, cooked agave, and toasted oak—elements that add depth to a variety of cocktails, ranging from a Paloma to an Old Fashioned.
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Best Reposado Tequila Under $50: Teremana
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s bestselling tequila brand starts with a strong foundation. Six- to eight-year-old highland agaves are harvested and the trimmed pi?as are processed and slow cooked for three days in traditional hornos (brick ovens) to bring out their maximum flavor. Aged for a minimum of two months in American oak ex-whiskey barrels, the reposado has notable flavors of agave, tropical fruit, and spices. Johnson, for his part, is involved with the final testing and tasting of this award-winning tequila, which is more than you can say about a lot of other celeb-backed brands.
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Best Splurge Reposado Tequila: Casa Obsidiana
We were a bit skeptical when we first came across this dramatically packaged reposado, which is housed in a modernistic ceramic sculpture that looks more at home on your bookshelf than your bar cart. We were pleasantly surprised when the reposado we poured proved to be as memorable as the container itself. Aged for four months in French oak casks that previously held Napa Valley Chardonnay, the flavor is bursting with winter spices, butterscotch, vanilla, and earthy agave, with a heady aroma to match. The combined efforts of French winemaker Jean Charles-Boisset and Jorge and Roberto Beckmann Gonzalez of Tierra de Agaves, this is a reposado worthy of sipping on special occasions.
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Best Single-Estate Reposado: Cierto Private Collection Reposado
In a unique marketing ploy, venture capitalist and tequila connoisseur Todd Chaffee held off bringing his blanco tequila to market until 2023, after it had won more than 700 awards. Now he has once again shown that waiting can be worth it, with the introduction of this refined, single-estate reposado. It has spent 11 months in French Limousine oak barrels, to produce a delicate tequila with nuances of butterscotch, cinnamon and caramel, all tied together by an intricate agave thread. Not surprisingly, it has already won more than 100 awards.
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Best Celebrity Reposado Tequila: Cincoro
Founded by notable NBA celebrities—Jeanie Buss, co-owner of the Lakers; Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens; Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck and his wife Emilia Fazzalari; and, of course, Michael Jordan—this award-wining tequila now includes Serena Williams and host of other sports stars as partners. But the new team members don’t change the underlying fact that Cincoro’s svelte, elongated bottled houses a stellar reposado with sweet, lightly oaked flavor that’s sprinkled with baking spices and white chocolate.
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Best High-Proof Reposado Tequila: Tequila Ocho Barrel Select Widow Jane 2022
Introduced in 2008, Tequila Ocho was the first tequila to designate both the year it was produced as well as the precise field from which the family-grown agaves were sourced. Reflecting the brand name, this limited-edition reposado—distilled from eight-year-old agaves—was aged for eight weeks and eight days in used bourbon barrels from Brooklyn-based Widow Jane Distillery. The result is a 91-proof agave-forward tequila, with heady aromas and notes of rich caramel and baking spice. It is indeed a reposado to be reckoned with.
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Best Organic Reposado Tequila: Dulce Vida
This USDA-certified organic reposado is equally at home over rocks or in a cocktail. Its versatility is assured by its additive-free nuances of caramel and citrus, with a mild flavor that is reflected in its light honeyed color, the results of being aged for 11 months in ex-bourbon barrels sourced directly from Jim Beam. Interestingly, Dulce Vida also markets a 100-proof version of their 80-proof reposado, for those looking for a little more assertiveness in their tequila-based cocktails.
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Reposado Tequila FAQs
What is reposado tequila?
While many tequila purists out there will gravitate toward blancos, we can’t help but love the versatility of a great reposado. That flexibility comes from the subtle influence of oak that you don’t get in unaged tequilas. After all, “reposado” means “rested,” which in this case, translates into the amount of time the spirits spend in wood. And it only rests for a limited amount of time. By law, reposados are only allowed to age two to 11 months in barrel. The type of barrels used for this aging process and the amount of time the tequila spends in them will influence the taste of the reposado, but since that period is limited, the agave is still allowed to shine through more than with a?ejos and extra a?ejos.
How do you drink reposado?
To really get to know a reposado, begin by first nosing it to try and define its aromas. Then slowly sip it, and “swish” it around in your mouth to separate the many layers of flavors that are present. After that, swallow it and breathe through your nose, getting the final full measure of its complexities. But, of course, part of the reason we love reposados is the extra layer of character they add to cocktails, so reach for one of the ones we’ve suggested the next time you’re mixing a Margarita, Paloma, or Oaxacan Old Fashioned.
How does tequila differ from mezcal?
Both, by law, must be made in Mexico and distilled from roasted agaves, but tequila can only use the Blue Weber variety and must be distilled in the town of Tequila in Jalisco and four other specifically designated Mexican states: Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Also, the agaves are primarily steam-roasted in ovens. On the other hand, mezcal can be made in any of nine specified Mexican states, primarily in Oaxaca, but also in Durango, Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and Puebla. In addition, mezcal is typically made from agaves that have been cooked by fire, smoke, and heat in rock-lined pits,
How did we choose the reposados on this list?
I start by nosing the tequila, pouring a small amount in a Glencairn tasting glass, just enough to fill its wide base, which narrows towards the top to concentrate the aromas of the liquid. I also take note of the color—aging doesn’t always produce a darker color, but it usually indicates a varying depth of taste. A good reposado can be light and delicate or more forceful on the palate, but there should always be a varying degree of agave present. After all, isn’t that why we drink tequila? Reposados merely give us more elements of flavors to tantalize our palates.
Why should you trust us?
Richard Carleton Hacker has been writing about spirits, restaurants, wines, and cigars for over 40 years and has written for Robb Report since 1995. His work has also appeared in numerous other lifestyle magazines, including Playboy, The Quarterly Review of Wines, Tasting Panel, and The Somm Journal. In addition, he served for 10 years as a judge and team captain for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. He has authored 11 books published in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, including The Ultimate Cigar Book and The Connoisseurs Guide To Worldwide Spirits. He was knighted in Germany and is an honorary member of numerous whisky and wine societies, including the Scotch whisky industry’s exclusive Keeper of the Quaich honorary society (where he is one of fewer than 200 people worldwide to hold the coveted title of Master of the Quaich), and the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne. He has traveled the world visiting countless distilleries in Scotland, France, and Italy and, of course, Mexico. His books on spirits and cigars are currently available on Amazon.
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