The spirits industry is currently facing some significant challenges, as people are drinking less and tariffs are wreaking havoc upon the export market. Still, the agave spirits category has shown some resilience, even outpacing whiskey and vodka sales here in America in recent years. While many of the most popular mass-produced brands use additives and modern production methods to make their tequila, others focus on traditional practices—and a small number are taking cues from the wine world and attempting to highlight terroir.

But what exactly does terroir mean when it comes to spirits? Head bartender at Almanac in Philadelphia, Rob Scott, describes it as how a specific geographic area imparts flavor into the final product, referring to things like soil composition, water levels, and even sun exposure. “It's almost as if you get to take a little part of a region and capture it in the bottle,” he said.

Tequila can only be produced from Blue Weber agave grown in five authorized states: Jalisco (the birthplace of tequila), Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Terroir-driven tequila highlights each area's soil, climate, altitude, and farming practices, allowing consumers to appreciate it in the way that wine drinkers traditionally do.

Terroir in Distilled Spirits

Tequila Ocho demonstrates that terroir exists in distilled spirits through its single-estate and vintage practices, harvesting agave from a single field rather than multiple fields and allowing the distinct flavors of the location and climate to shine. The brand uses only three ingredients—agave, water, and wild yeast. Its first vintage, El Vergel 2007, was released in 2008, and 46 others have been produced since then.

Master distiller Carlos Camarena co-founded Tequila Ocho with the late Tomas Estes, an avid promoter of agave spirits. As a fifth-generation agave farmer and third-generation tequilero, Camarena comes from a family deeply rooted in the spirit. His great-grandfather is said to have brought blue agave to the Highlands of Jalisco, and today the family has several brands under its control, including Ocho, G4, and El Tesoro.

“At Ocho, each vintage comes from a single field, harvested only once, allowing drinkers to taste the differences from one place to another and from one year to the next,” says Fany Camarena, commercial director for Tequila Ocho. “It’s a way of celebrating the agave’s origin and showing that tequila can be as expressive and complex as any other artisanal spirit.”

Location Matters

Loco Tequila also has a terroir-focused approach to its luxury tequila, planting, harvesting, and producing on its nearly 250 acres of land and on the recently acquired Hacienda La Providencia.

“All of the agave used in the creation of Loco Tequila is estate-grown, so every sip reflects an unusually specific expression of the three-mile radius that surrounds Hacienda La Providencia,” said Alberto Navarro, CEO and maestro tequilero of Loco Tequila and author of Larousse del Tequila. “These soils are quite rich in iron and silica, which impart a bold and pleasant minerality to our flavor profile.”

Navarro acknowledges that the tequila’s water source, a deep well fed by underground rivers that flow nearly 40 miles from Bosque de la Primavera near Guadalajara, naturally purifies the water and offers notes of limestone. However, it's the agaves, which take roughly six to eight years to mature before harvest, that play the biggest role in the flavor. 

“We only harvest Loco Tequila agave when it reaches super-concentrated sugar levels up to 40 degrees Brix, which is far above the industry standard of 23–26 degrees,” Navarro said. “Then we harvest them one-by-one, leaving behind any agave that are not ready for harvest, or that don’t meet our quality standards, a method known as entresaque, to create complex and richly flavored tequilas.”

Not All Agaves Are The Same

Fernando Pérez Ontiveros, founder of Laelia Tequila, explains that the tequila-producing region of Jalisco is divided into two main growing areas—the highlands (Los Altos) and the lowlands (El Valle). Both produce Blue Weber agave, but each area offers very different flavor profiles. 

“At Laelia, everything starts with our land and our agave, which is grown in the lowlands of Jalisco,” said Ontiveros. “Our agave fields sit at a lower elevation, where warmer temperatures and rich, sandy soil create the perfect environment for agaves that grow faster and develop bright, vibrant flavors. This unique environment gives our tequila a distinctive character, with a fruitier and more herbaceous profile compared to agave from the highlands.”

Located in the highlands of Jalisco, Mijenta Tequila’s lineup is typically only made from agave grown in the region. ​However, for its latest expression, Maestra Selection No. 2, agaves from across all five Mexican tequila-producing regions were used to incorporate new flavors specific to each area.

“Sourced from single estates in each of those five territories, the agaves for this release were distilled separately and then blended to create a final profile that is rich and complex,” said Ana María Romero, maestra tequilera at Mijenta Tequila (she also recently began working with Casa Mexico). “Through the lens of terroir, this release was an opportunity for me to highlight the other states in Mexico that have their own unique traditions when it comes to tequila. By creating the distillates separately and bringing them together, the final blend truly embodies the beauty of Mexico.”

Finding the Right Process

William Brooks, global brand ambassador for Tequila Herradura, agrees that the source of the agave is important to each tequila's flavor profile, but fermentation plays a big part as well.

“Tequila Herradura utilizes open-air fermentation,” he said. “There are 16 varieties of fruit and citrus trees around the distillery to create the yeast that converts our agave juice into alcohol. For an un-aged tequila, fermentation can be the largest contributor to flavor outside of the agave itself, allowing the natural terroir at the distillery to influence the flavors of the tequila.”

Volcan de mi Tierra attributes its balanced, agave-forward profile to the specific methods it uses to cook the agave from each region. Lowland agave is slowly cooked in traditional brick ovens and crushed with a tahona stone. This large volcanic stone wheel is traditionally pulled by an animal or a tractor (some now powered by electric motors), separating agave juice from the pulp to produce more complex, earthy flavors. Highland agaves, on the other hand, are cooked in autoclaves, crushed in a roller mill, and fermented in stainless steel vats with rum yeast to enhance tropical aromas and floral notes.

“Today’s drinkers question what’s in their glass,” said Carlos Pechieu, general manager and CCO at Volcan. “The future belongs to those who create with purpose and transparency.”

The producers who are making tequila with terroir in mind may have their own processes and methods, but one thing remains the same—it’s all about place. Each honors the land by focusing on soil composition, microclimate, and altitude at each location, lending an expression flavored heavily by its place.

“I believe the agave spirits category will continue to grow,” said José María “Chema” Dondé, beverage director for New York City’s The Bedford Stone Street and Mexi Stone Street. “People are craving authenticity. Tequila that honors its terroir tells a story rooted in culture, agriculture, and time, and guests can taste it. Terroir-driven tequila isn’t a trend, it’s a return to what tequila truly is.”