There are a lot of spirits competitions on the market, however these with a status robust sufficient to vary the trajectory of a model that wins an award are few and much between. 

The Tasting Alliance, based in 1980, hosts most of the most well-known and revered spirits and ready-to-drink blind tasting competitions worldwide, together with in Asia, Latin America, and New York. Its most distinguished competitors — and one of the crucial prestigious globally — is the San Francisco World Spirits Competitors (SFWSC). The Alliance’s annual High Shelf Awards honor the winners of SFWSC and the San Francisco Prepared-to-Drink Competitors (SFRTDC) with a weekend of tastings and academic periods in San Francisco, culminating in a grand gala the place the winners are revealed.

The 2025 High Shelf Awards acknowledged tequilas within the blanco, reposado, añejo, and further añejo classes. The prize-winning blanco, from Volcan de mi Tierra, additionally earned the Finest Total Tequila award. It’s distilled on the Hacienda la Gavilana, positioned beneath the Tequila Volcano. The Gallardo household, which has lived there since 1774, has grown agave and produced mezcal and tequila for 5 generations. Nonetheless, Volcan de mi Tierra is a comparatively new model, launched by the household and its father or mother firm, LVMH, in 2019. Volcan makes use of a mix of agaves from the Lowlands and Highlands of Jalisco to create the distinctive taste of the blanco, which Volcan describes as spicy, citric, and natural, with fruit-forward notes of cherry and pear. The tequila is made with out components, utilizing solely yeast, water, and agave for the blanco variant.

The award for finest reposado tequila (that means it has been barrel-aged for as much as 12 months) went to Aguasol, distilled at Destileria Cascahuín in northwestern Jalisco. Tequilas from Cascahuin are recognized for his or her minerality, and Aguasol Reposado is not any exception. Aged for 3 months in ex-bourbon barrels, it additionally options refined agave notes, hints of caramel, and affect from the barrel, in line with the model.

Taking house the award for finest añejo tequila (barrel-aged for 1-3 years) was Cierto’s Personal Assortment añejo. Cierto claims to be the world’s most awarded tequila, with greater than 1,100 awards to this point, although it’s solely been accessible in America for a few years. Crafted by grasp distillers Enrique Fonseca and Sergio Mendoza, it’s made with estate-grown agave from the Highlands of Jalisco, which is double-distilled in each pot and column stills after which aged for 18 months in French Limousin oak. The casks through which it’s matured have beforehand held Cognac, superb wine, and Armagnac. The model describes the añejo as elegantly easy, with deep notes of French oak, espresso, and Burgundy.

Enrique Fonseca and Sergio Mendoza even have a hand within the profitable additional añejo tequila (barrel-aged for 3 years or longer): Don Fulano Imperial. Don Fulano’s historical past dates again greater than 140 years, when the Fonseca household first started cultivating agave, however the model itself was established in 2002, when Enrique began distilling on the former La Tequileña distillery, which the household had acquired. Don Fulano Imperial, distilled by Fonseca and blended by Mendoza, is matured in French Limousin oak and ex-sherry casks for no less than 5 years. Don Fulano describes it as exceptionally wealthy, with notes of dried black cherries, apricots, candy brown spices, cloves, nutmeg, and pepper.

The profitable tequilas had been chosen from a number of hundred entries at this 12 months’s San Francisco World Spirits Competitors. The sector was narrowed right down to 19 Double Gold medal winners, from which the 4 High Shelf winners had been chosen.