Tequila Ocho

At a glance

Tequila Ocho is the brand that gave consumer tequila two ideas it had almost never been offered before: that a bottle could be vintage-dated by the year its agave was harvested, and that the specific rancho the agave came from could be named on the label. It was founded in 2008 by Carlos Camarena, third-generation master distiller of El Tesoro / Tapatío's historic NOM 1139NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1139: La Alteña — Tequila Tapatío, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco). Camarena family. Tapatío, El Tesoro, and historically Tequila Ocho. distillery in Arandas, together with Tomas Estes, the British-American restaurateur who served for decades as Mexico's official Tequila Ambassador to Europe. Estes died in 2020. Ocho is now produced primarily at the family's second distillery, Los Alambiques (NOM 1474NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1474: Cía. Tequilera Los Alambiques, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco, Cerro del Gallo). Built 2021; Tequila Ocho's primary distillery since 2021.), built in 2021 on Cerro del Gallo above Arandas, with selected 2025 vintages returning to La Alteña [Minnick, December 2025].

The Camarena family

The Camarenas have made tequila in Arandas for three generations. Carlos Camarena's grandfather, Felipe J. Camarena, founded Tequila Tapatío in 1937; his father, Felipe Camarena Curiel, expanded the family's distillery on Calle Camarena to become the La Alteña facility that operates today as NOM 1139NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1139: La Alteña — Tequila Tapatío, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco). Camarena family. Tapatío, El Tesoro, and historically Tequila Ocho.. La Alteña produces Tapatío (independently owned by the family), El Tesoro (contract-produced under Beam Suntory), and historically produced Ocho before the second distillery opened. The family ranches its own Agave tequilana across the highlands of Arandas, harvests at ages that often run a year or two past the industry minimum, and cooks in masonry hornos (traditional brick ovens) rather than industrial autoclaves.

What "vintage-dated, single-rancho" means

Most tequila producers blend agave from multiple ranchos and multiple harvest years into a single bottling, the way large-scale wineries blend grape lots into a non-vintage cuvée. Ocho rejects that approach entirely. Every Ocho bottle is harvested in a single year, from a single named rancho, and the rancho and vintage are printed on the label. A 2017 Las Pomas tastes measurably different from a 2018 Las Aguilillas, even though both are 100% agave at the same proof from the same family at the same distillery, because the ranchos themselves are different soils at different elevations and the agave that grew there absorbed those differences. The brand exists, in part, to demonstrate that terroir is a real variable in tequila and not just a wine-world borrowing.

Terroir is a real variable in tequila, not just a wine-world borrowing.

— Tequila Ocho's editorial position

NOM 1474NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1474: Cía. Tequilera Los Alambiques, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco, Cerro del Gallo). Built 2021; Tequila Ocho's primary distillery since 2021. (and NOM 1139NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1139: La Alteña — Tequila Tapatío, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco). Camarena family. Tapatío, El Tesoro, and historically Tequila Ocho. again)

Tequila Ocho has been on NOM 1474NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1474: Cía. Tequilera Los Alambiques, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco, Cerro del Gallo). Built 2021; Tequila Ocho's primary distillery since 2021. since 2021. The brand was originally produced at NOM 1139NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1139: La Alteña — Tequila Tapatío, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco). Camarena family. Tapatío, El Tesoro, and historically Tequila Ocho. (La Alteña), and earlier reference works (including some still in print) list Ocho at 1139 without the update. That listing is now wrong as the primary attribution. The picture is also nuanced: production has continued to move between the two distilleries depending on capacity, and a selection of 2025 vintages were produced at La Alteña again [Minnick, December 2025]. The cleanest single-line description is "Tequila Ocho, NOM 1474NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1474: Cía. Tequilera Los Alambiques, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco, Cerro del Gallo). Built 2021; Tequila Ocho's primary distillery since 2021. with ongoing production at NOM 1139NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) is the Mexican federal product-standard system. On a tequila bottle the NOM number is the unique identifier of the distillery facility where the tequila was made — every drop in the bottle came from a plant operating under that NOM. Different brands made at the same NOM share a distillery. NOM 1139: La Alteña — Tequila Tapatío, S.A. de C.V. (Arandas, Jalisco). Camarena family. Tapatío, El Tesoro, and historically Tequila Ocho.," and that is the line readers should expect to see updated as the family's production planning evolves.

Additive-free, with a complicated certification trail

Tequila Ocho is verified additive-free: no caramel coloring, no oak extract, no glycerin, no sugar syrup added at bottling. The verification has, for years, come from Tequila Matchmaker, an independent enthusiast-and-producer initiative that ran the public Additive Free certification list and the Additive Free Alliance.

The litigation does not change the empirical reality of the bottle. Producers continue to declare their own additive practices, and Ocho's vintage-dated, single-rancho transparency is at the high end of what the broader tequila category currently offers. Readers tracking the regulatory landscape should follow the CRT v. AFA docket as it develops.

Tomas Estes, in memoriam

Tomas Estes (1948–2020) was the brand's other founder, the Tequila Ambassador to Europe appointed by the Mexican government, and the operator of the Cafe Pacifico restaurant group across London, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Paris. He was, for thirty years, one of the most influential voices arguing internationally for tequila as a serious agricultural spirit rather than a salt-and-lime party shot. The Estes family remains a co-owner of the brand alongside the Camarenas. Tomas's son, Jesse Estes, now works closely with Carlos Camarena on the brand's direction.

See also