Lowlands tequila may not have such a strong grip in the U.S., but it just rocked the world spirits international stage.
This spring, for Days of Tasting in London, top judges were gathered at the London Spirits Competition to sample thousands of drinks and judge them on quality both within and outside the bottle. Not a mistake in the busy spirit world of judging.
Tequila Gran Orendain Reposado was the surprise hit in London for agave lovers. Pretty unknown in America. But not anymore. Here is what you really should know about the 2025 Tequila of the Year.
The judges at the London Spirits Competition seem to have had a consensus opinion. Such notes would be consistent with one's expectations for Lowland tequila. From a soil enriched with volcanic earth, the bioweber agave is often considered vegetative-peppery-mineral. In general, they offer the drinker less sweet and more spice as opposed to the highland fruity and floral cousins one would find in the state of Jalisco.
Gran Orendain Reposado flaunts these tones with much flair. Some might call it a classic Lowland tequila. It comes from fairly ancient traditions: its piñas were cooked in autoclaves and crushed into juice using roller mills before the double distillation in stainless steel pot stills with copper coils.
With consistent practice over the years, those clever but relatively simple methods yield a drink that clings to the tongue as being crisp and clean. Yet experts in the experience have used the phrase to characterize other elixirs. They indeed point out its strong oaky notes—not bad, but not what you'd expect of reposado, because it can't be in the barrel more than a year.
It is one of those things that undoubtedly will not please everyone, but a pretty good beginning would be to win the jury of experts. This should help Gran Orendain sit at the shelf. Not available that much inside the States—the price tag of some $40 is worth it even just to give it a shot. Certainly, it would be interesting to find out what was so special about it that caught the judges' attention in London. After all, only a handful of tequilas received a gold medal in 2025. Here you can have the view of the whole winners list.