17 Best Luxury Tequilas To Sip And Shot

Tequila doesn’t get more luxurious than this — just look at that handmade bottle for starters. Made from organic agave, it’s rested in oak barrels for eight months and on the palate, you can expect caramel, vanilla and spice. Oh-so-smooth, it would be sacrilegious to shot this one.

Since debuting this summer, Patrón’s ultra-premium El Cielo (meaning 'heaven' in Spanish) has enjoyed sell-out success – and with good reason. Distilled four times to harness the agave’s underlying character, it leans savoury over sweet, with notes of green pepper, citrus peel, and lingering vanilla. Savour over ice with a slice of lime to allow this spirit to sing.

This winning bottle is sustainably made (from sourcing to packaging) — and it's one super fresh artisanal tequila. Expect bright green notes, punchy cracked black pepper and sweet cinnamon. On top of that, we’re a bit in love with the pink and green label — it’s going to look great on your bar cart.

Rested for two months in ex-red wine casks, this smooth-as-silk reposado is made to sip (no slamming here) or savour with artisanal soda to avoid overwhelming the flavours at play. The opening aroma brings sweet, summer flowers and ripe red fruit, before building to a more complex palate led by vanilla and bright citrus. A truly unique tequila – in the best way.

The tequila market is seriously heating up; so much so, that it’s tough for younger brands to make their mark, but Neurita has done just that, by infusing a tequila base with Sicilian orange and tangerine. The result is a zesty serve that carries enough natural sweetness and flavour to forgo the triple sec and agave in your marg. We’re obsessed.

The name 'altos' refers to the highlands where it’s widely considered the absolute best agave comes from. It’s certainly powerful, delivering a complex blend of smoke, dried fruit and caramel. In fact, some of our testers said it reminded them of cognac, in case that’s your bag.

Okay, we’ll stop with the celeb spirits after this, we promise, but Casamigos is worth calling out. Once co-owned by George Clooney (before selling to drinks giant Diageo), it’s made using a ‘traditional’ brick oven method.

The golden liquid has a rich caramel note, flecked with juicy orange and sweet cinnamon — making it an excellent choice for a warming tequila old fashioned.

This is the perfect un-aged blanco for your next Tommy’s margarita — we’re talking fresh, clean and sweet. The panel loved how unique our the flavour is, with a menthol and clove note and a super smooth finish. Superb.

Turning the traditional classification system on its head, Maestro Dobel is a blend of reposado, añejo and extra-añejo tequila.

It’s filtered through diamonds, so it’s much clearer than you’d expect, with a smooth and creamy vanilla aroma. However the palate is more in line with your typical blanco — herbal, peppery and perfect for cocktails.

VIVIR was born after co-founder Paul Hayes discovered he was allergic to the cheap mixtos on the market. In response, the brand grows its own agave in the highlands of Jalisco and leaves it to rest in ex-bourbon barrels to develop those delicious oaky characteristics.

Testers loved the caramel and spice, and thought it would be fab in a highball cocktail.

A tequila sweetened with coconut you say? Sign us up! It reminded our testers of a tropical rum and as such, they thought it would be delicious with pineapple juice for an easy summer serve. We’re sold.

We're also rather partial to the 1800 Silver Tequila, which has a peppery heat, making for an excellent spicy margarita.

El Rayo recommends pairing its citrus-driven tequila with tonic — making it an easy replacement for your beloved G&T. Surprisingly complex, our testers enjoyed the minerality and tickle of black pepper — just add a slice of lemon before serving.

Despite being a blanco, this tequila (which is designed with cocktails in mind), has had a month in oak, before being filtered through charcoal for purity. You’re left with a beautiful balance of tobacco and vanilla sweetness, cut through with prickly black pepper.

It’s super smooth and versatile enough for any tequila cocktail you can think of. What’s more, a portion of profits goes towards supporting butterfly conservation in the US and Mexico.

As celebrity brands go, Dwyane 'The Rock' Johnson’s seems to be the one doing things properly. Using its own distillery, Teremana’s reposado is aged for a year, keeping a fresh, earthy flavour with a punchy kick of cayenne pepper and a subtle sweetness.

Looking for the perfect tequila gift? This beautiful handmade bottle contains a top-notch reposado, certain to please the lucky recipient. There’s an initial sweetness, followed by warming pepper and nicely balanced oak. In short, this little devil is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Yes, it’s another celebrity tequila, but Rita Ora’s Prospero is headed up by Stella Anguiano (one of Mexico’s most highly regarded female Master Distillers). Unlike others, its producers say they are keen to honour the 'important history behind every bottle'.

Thank goodness, because it’s really very delicious. Vegetal and earthy with a slight honeyed note, this reposado was our testers favourite in the range.

Most tequila fans will have Patron firmly on their radar. But what’s extra special about this smooth anejo is that it’s barrel-aged in white oak for a more pronounced flavour.

Insanely elegant, our testers were bowled over by the dark caramel, vanilla and coconut notes.

Who would have thought Scotland and Mexico would be such a winning combination, but this anejo tequila takes its flavour from 14 months in Scotch whisky barrels. The result is a beautiful balance of smoke, pepper and honey, with just a hint of tropical fruit. A very fun intro to sipping tequila.