The United States tequila market has been booming for the last two decades, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% since 2002.
2020 was an especially explosive year, with over 23 million 9 liter cases, equal to $9.41 billion, being sold in the country.
72% of all tequila produced in 2020 was consumed in the United States. Amounting to 254 million liters, the nation’s demand for tequila exceeded the world’s second-largest importer, Germany, by a factor of 63 to 1.
Analyst consensus seems to point to continued rapid growth in the United States tequila market over the following decade, with total sales expected to reach $14.7 billion by 2028.
To provide insight into where exactly the tequila market is currently at, this article will look at the ten largest brands by revenue.
We’ll provide their total revenue and unit sales, when available, as well as discuss their history, brand identity, and products.
Largest Tequila Brands in the United States by Revenue
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Jose Cuervo.
2020 Annual Revenue: $4.21 billion
2020 Unit Sales: 8.7 millionJose Cuervo isn’t just the world’s best-selling tequila brand; it also single-handedly accounts for more than a fourth of all global tequila sales in total.
The brand was introduced in Mexico in 1795 and gradually gained nationwide popularity and recognition over the centuries.
It first became a significant player in the United States tequila market in the 1940s, when European-based alcoholic drinks suffered war-related production restrictions due to World War II.
In more recent years, Jose Cuervo has greatly benefited from an overall increase in the popularity of Tequila in the United States.
National demand for the brand in 2012 was 12 million cases, representing a 54% increase from just a decade prior.
Proximo Spirits currently owns the rights to Jose Cuervo and handles all distribution within the United States.
However, production still occurs in the same location as when the brand was first established at the La Rojena distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.
The brand’s main tequila lines include:
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Especial Silver. Unaged white tequila made from blue agave and sugarcane spirit.
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Especial Reposado. Also known as Cuervo Gold, composed of reposado, younger tequilas, and caramel coloring.
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Cinge. Cinge is a cinnamon-infused mix of Especial Silver.
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Tradicional. Jose Cuervo’s flagship product, made from 100% blue agave tequila.
Many selections from the Jose Cuervo tequila line have won various awards, including the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Grand Prix, Gran Premio.
Jose Cuervo tequila products are 35%-40% alcohol by volume.
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2020 Annual Sales: $1.37 billion
2020 Unit Sales: 2.8 millionPatron is a tequila brand produced and distributed by the Patron Spirits Company.
All bottles are 40% alcohol by volume.
The brand is unique in that all of its products are handmade and hand-distilled. Even its corks, barrels, and bottles are handcrafted.
Since 1989, Patron’s main brand identity has been a “premium” tequila that signals “taste and sophistication.”
Their self-described primary target audience has mostly been vodka drinks at trendy bars and nightclubs.
Patron’s marketing materials often associate the brand with iconic hip hop and other music artists, such as Lil Jon.
The Patron Spirits Company and the Patron brand were sold to Bacardi in 2018 for $5.1 billion.
The top-selling tequila products under the Patron name include:
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Patron Silver
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Patron Anejo
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Patron Reposado
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Gran Patron Burdeos
Patron also offers a unique tequila coffee blend called Patron XO Cafe.
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Sauza.
2020 Annual Sales: $1.27 billion
2020 Unit Sales: 2.7 millionSauza is a tequila brand owned by the Sauza Tequila Import Company.
It was created in 1873 by Don Cenobia Sauza. Production began at the La Perseverancia distillery and continues at the same location to this day.
The Sauza Tequila Import Company was fully family-owned until the 1970s, when their distilleries were purchased by Pedro Domecq, one of Spain’s largest brandy producers.
Sauza’s best selling tequila lines include:
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Blanco
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Extra Gold
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Blue Silver
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Blue Reposado
Many tequilas under the Sauza name have won notable awards, such as:
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Gold at the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition
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A score of 81 in 2006 from the Beverage Testing Institute
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1800 Tequila.
2020 Annual Sales: N/A
2020 Unit Sales: N/A1800 Tequila is a Mexican tequila brand owned by the Beckmann family. The family also owns Jose Cuervo, the best-selling brand of tequila in the United States.
Within the United States, the Beckmann Family distributes 1800 Tequila drinks through their distribution company, Proximo Spirits.
1800 refers to the historical year in which tequila was first aged in oaken barrels.
1800 Tequila itself, however, was only introduced in 1975. It markets itself as a “premium sipping tequila.”
The brand’s tequila products range from 35%-50% in alcohol by volume.
1800 Tequila’s best selling product lines include:
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Silver (Blanco). Produced entirely from blue agave and aged for 15 days in oak barrels.
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Reserva Reposado. Also, 100% blue agave, aged in French and American oak casks for six months.
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Reserva Anejo. Produced from 100% blue and aged for three years in French Oak casks.
1800’s tequila products are packed in a distinctive trapezoidal shape.
The brand markets itself heavily through high-visibility sponsorships and celebrity endorsements.
1800 Silver maintains sponsorship deals with the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers, which allow them to prominently display ads at Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center.
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Don Julio.
2020 Annual Sales: $1.12 billion
2020 Unit Sales: 1.7 millionDon Julio is a brand of tequila products manufactured, distilled, bottled, and distributed by the Tequila Don Julio company.
The brand was first introduced locally in 1942 by Don Julio Gonzalez-Frausto Estrada.
It wasn’t until 1960 that due to the brand’s rapidly-growing popularity, the Don Julio family decided to expand distribution across all of Mexico. The brand became globally distributed in 1999.
The blue agave for the brand’s products is grown entirely on the Don Julio family estate.
The Don Julio brand’s best-selling tequila products include:
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70 Anejo Claro
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1942 Anejo
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Real Extra Anejo
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Reposado
The brand won double gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2008 and 2011, as well as a silver medal in 2012.
All manufacturing and distillation occur at a corporate facility in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco.
Don Julio tequila is distributed by Diageo in the United States.
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El Jimador.
2020 Annual Sales: $967 million
2020 Unit Sales: 1.4 millionEl Jimador is a brand of tequila owned by Brown-Forman, a United States-based spirits firm that also owns the Pepe Lopez tequila brand.
El Jimador was first introduced in the United States in 1994. It was branded as “the world’s first premium tequila at an accessible price point.”
The brand name pays homage to “Jimadores,” workers who harvest the blue agave plant needed for tequila production.
All El Jimador products are distilled and manufactured at the Casa Herradura distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.
Popular El Jimador tequila products include:
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Reposado. El Reposado is double-distilled and aged for two months in charred American white oak barrels.
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Silver. El Jimador Silver is double-distilled from 100% Weber agave and doesn’t involve any barrel aging.
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New Mix. New Mix is El Jimador’s line of ready-to-drink single-serve products.
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Hornitos.
2020 Annual Sales: $944 million
2020 Unit Sales: 1.3 millionHornitos is a tequila brand owned by Beam Suntory, the same spirits company that owns other well-known tequila brands such as Tres Generaciones, 100 Anos, and El Tesoro.
The brand was introduced by Don Francisco in 1950 to celebrate Mexican Independence Day.
Hornitos is the Spanish word for “little ovens,” referencing the unique oven-baking process that Don Francisco used to prepare blue agave for tequila production.
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Tequila Herradura.
2020 Annual Sales: N/A
2020 Unit Sales: N/ATequila Herradura is a tequila brand distilled and distributed by Grupo Industrial Herradura in Jalisco, Mexico.
The brand was established by Felix Lopez in 1870 and remained family-owned until it was acquired by Brown-Forman in 2007.
Since the acquisition, the Herradura brand has gained significant international recognition. In addition to the United States, Herradura’s tequila products are sold in 135 different countries.
All Herradura brand tequilas are made out of 100% blue agave. All packages bear official certification from the government of Mexico.
Some of Herradura’s best-selling tequila lines include:
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Antiguo
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Seleccion Suprema
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Blanco Suave
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Reposado
Brown-Foreman markets the Herradura brand through commercials, sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements.
Notable promotional events include:
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In 2008, became the Kentucky Derby’s official tequila brand.
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In 2010, created a “Buy-the-Barrel” program encouraging tequila enthusiasts to buy entire barrels of Herradura tequila.
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In 2012, they partnered with 142 artists to donate the proceeds from their art sales to charity.
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Clase Azul.
2020 Annual Sales: N/A
2020 Unit Sales: 264,000Clase Azul is an ultra-premium brand of tequila.
All Clase Azul products are produced in a similar way. Their tequila is made from 100% blue agave, which is cooked for 72 hours in masonry ovens.
After distillation, this tequila is drained in special decanters that are handmade and hand-painted by artisans in Santa Maria Canchesda.
Clase Azul’s basic product line includes five different selections of Tequila:
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Ultra
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Anejo
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Reposado
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Plata
They also run a special collection of tequila called “Mexico Through Time.”
In order to celebrate Mexico’s unique culture and history, each item in the collection is made exclusively out of materials important to the region.
These include:
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Amber
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Olinala
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Talavera
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Tequila
The entire collection sells for $450,000, with all proceeds going to charity.
The brand partners with various companies to handle distribution in the United States, including Wine Spirit, Savannah Distribution Company, and Southern Glazer’s Wine Spirits.
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Milagro Tequila.
2020 Annual Sales: N/A
2020 Unit Sales: 312,000Milagro is a tequila brand established in 1998 in Mexico City.
Founders Moy Guindi and Danny Schneeweiss saw a space in the tequila market for a brand that mixed the cultural roots of traditional tequila with the vibrant modern Mexican nightclub scene that they were part of.
This theming can be seen on the packaging of Maligro bottles, which often combine depictions of modern Mexico City architecture with agave plants and farmers.
Milagro-branded tequilas were sold exclusively in Mexico until 2006, when the brand was acquired by William Grant Sons and began distribution in the United States and around the world.
All Milagro products are made from 100% blue agave grown in the Jalisco Highlands.
Their best selling lines of tequila include:
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Silver. According to Pedro Juarez, Milagro’s master distiller, Milagro Silver is renowned for its “smoothness, mixability, and agave-forward taste.”
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Reposado. Aged in American oak for six months.
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Select Barrel Reserve Reposado. Aged in French of American oak for three to six months.
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Select Barrel Reserve Añejo. Anejo aged from 14 to 24 months in French or American oak.
Milagro’s products vary widely in price, leading to the brand winning multiple “best expensive tequila” as well as “best inexpensive tequila” awards.
One of the brand’s most common marketing strategies has been to commission street art.
In the past, Milagro has partnered with prominent Mexican graffiti artists such as Beo Hake and Seher One to create massive Milagro-related murals around the world.
The brand also maintains sponsors with numerous sports teams, such as the Sacramento Kings and the San Jose Sharks.
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Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
