Our Favorite Reposado Tequilas Under $50

Calle 23 is one of the few distilleries overseen by a woman, Sophie Decobecq, a former biochemist who started in the South African spirits industry. The agave is grown in the Los Altos (highlands) of Jalisco, where there is more even sunlight for ripening. This reposado is double-distilled in pot stills and aged 8 months in ex-bourbon casks.

Master distiller Jesús Hernandez produces Olmeca Altos tequila using traditional methods, from slow-cooking the piñas in a brick oven to crushing the cooked piñas with a tahona (stone wheel) and distilling with small copper pot stills. Olmeca Altos also touts their use of cultivated yeast, rather than “wild or commercial yeast that is often used by competitors.” The reposado is aged 8-10 months in used bourbon barrels.

The Camarena family of distillers has been producing tequila for 3 generations at La Alteña distillery in the hills of Jalisco. Tapatio is the joint project between Carlos Camarena and Marko Karakasevic of Charbay winery and distillery in Napa. It's made with 100% estate-grown blue agave and fermented with a yeast culture that dates back 75 years. It's aged 8 months in ex-bourbon barrels.

Don Julio Tequila sources its agaves from the Highlands of Jalisco. After harvesting, they are then steam-cooked for 72 hours. The juice is fermented and double-distilled in stainless steel pot-stills. For the Don Julio Reposado, it is aged for eight months in American white oak. The reposado is then bottled in the characteristic, square-shaped bottle at 80 proof.

Siete Leguas, named after the horse belonging to Pancho Villa, is a Highlands tequila from Atotonilco El Alto. Agave piñas are harvested, cooked in ovens, and then pressed by either a mule-driven tahona or shredded by more contemporary techniques. The aguamiel (honey-water) is then fermented and distilled. The reposado expression is aged for eight months in white oak barrels.

Founded in 2012 by Colorado-based Laurence Spiewak and Lance Sokol, the double-distilled Suerte Tequilas are produced at a family-run distillery in the highlands of Jalisco. Following the distillery’s laborious traditional methods, the Suerte Reposado is aged for seven months in single-use Jack Daniels barrels.

With the agave hearts roasted in traditional clay ovens, and fermented using only the local wild yeasts native to the casa, Herradura Reposado is aged after distillation in American oak barrels for 11 months to allow the flavors of this tequila to mature.

Produced in Los Altos in Jalisco at the famous La Alteña Distillery established by Don Felipe Camarena in 1937. Today his grandson, Carlos Camarena, is the master distiller. El Tesoro uses 100% estate-grown agave in its production. After cooking, the agaves are crushed using a tractor-pulled tahona. Post-distillation, the reposado is aged from 9-11 months in ex-bourbon barrels. Please note a packaging update in April 2018. (SRP $65)

Casamigos (loosely translated to "house of friends") is indeed the tequila brand created by George Clooney and Rande Gerber. The agaves are sourced from the Highlands of Jalisco and this reposado is aged for 7 months in reconditioned whiskey barrels and is bottled at 80 proof.

Partida is known for having complete control over its production from field to bottle. The estate-grown agave used to make it is aged 7 - 10 years in a section near a dormant volcano in the Tequila Valley of Jalisco, Mexico. It's aged six months in ex-Jack Daniels barrels.