The Top Tequila (and Mezcal) Picks for your Paloma Cocktail

The Paloma is both easy to make and delicious. Take a salt-rimmed glass and fill with ice. Add tequila, grapefruit soda, a squeeze of lime and you’re good to go! You can use blanco or reposado tequila, but don’t overlook mezcal. Try one of our top picks for a tasty Paloma cocktail!
Feb 15, 2020
  • 12
    84
    Smoky & Spicy
    Introduced in 2010, Del Maguey VIDA Mezcal is an artisanal single-village organic mezcal made from espadín agaves. These agaves are harvested from the village of San Luis del Rio in Oaxaca. Roasting of the agaves lasts for 3-8 days followed by an 8-10 day wild fermentation. The mezcal is twice distilled in wood-fired copper stills. Bottled at 84 proof.
  • 11
    87
    Smoky & Salty
    Montelobos (mountain of wolves) is an unaged mezcal produced from organic espadín agave. The agaves are sourced from Loma Larga in Santiago Matatlán Oaxaca. After roasting for 5-7 days in a volcanic stone pit, the agaves are crushed with a tahona and allowed to naturally ferment. Montelobos was created by Dr. Iván Saldaña and is produced by 5th generation mezcalero, Don Abel Lopez.
  • 10
    90
    Rich & Smoky
    Sombra was created as a passion project of famed sommelier and wine negociant Richard Betts of Betts & Scholls. Created as a stance against the “Vodka-ization” of Agave spirits, this is meant to jump out in a cocktail. It is 100% espadín that are first grown in the villages of San Juan del Rio and San Juan before being uprooted and planted on the slopes of the Sierras in Oaxaca. After roasting for 2 days in a stone pit with an oak fire source, the agaves are crushed in a tahona (stone wheel) and then allowed to ferment naturally for 8 days.
  • 9
    91
    Fruity
    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)
  • 8
    92
    Sweet & Fruity
    Casa Noble produces USDA certified organic tequila that’s made with 10-14 year-old agave plants from their own fields in the hills near the city of Tequila. Casa Noble exclusively uses lightly charred white French Limousin oak. The triple-distilled reposado is aged for 364 days, the maximum possible time span. As this is a single barrel expression, expect slight variations to exist on the flavor profile.
  • 7
    92
    Rich & Sweet
    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.
  • 6
    92
    Fruity & Sweet
    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.
  • 5
    93
    Fruity & Sweet
    A 100% blue agave tequila owned & imported by 3 Badge Mixology, Pasote Tequila Blanco is made by Felipe Camarena at El Pandillo Tequila Distillery in the Los Altos (Highlands) region of Jalisco, Mexico. Camarena maintains the traditional process of tequila making, using stone ovens with built-in steam jets to cook the piñas and a hand-built steel shredder and tahona wheel to shred and extract the agave. Fermented in stainless steel vats and double-distilled in copper stills, 40% collected rainwater and 60% stream water is added and the final bottled product. (SRP $49)
  • 4
    93
    Rich
    This tequila is actually distilled at two of the brand's own distilleries, Fábricas El Centenario and La Vencedora. The former employs more traditional methods including the use of two mules to pull the tahona (stone wheel) and wild yeast in fermentation while the latter uses a molina (a modern mill) to crush the agaves and their own yeast strain. Both are distilled in copper pot stills and the two tequilas are blended together to create their product. (SRP $45)
  • 3
    94
    Fruity
    Guillermo Erickson Sauza, a fifth-generation tequila maker and a descendant of THAT tequila family resurrected his family-owned distillery in 2005. The tequila is produced in a traditional manner using brick ovens to cook the agaves which are then crushed with a tahona (large stone wheel). They are then allowed to naturally ferment in open air wooden tanks. The tequila is known in México as Tequila Los Abuelos, named to honor his great-great grandfather, great-grand father, and grandfather who did so much to promote the tequila industry. Outside of México, the brand is known as Fortaleza ("fortitude").
  • 2
    95
    Umami
    Los Vecinos del Campo Mezcal brand is a partnership between Sazerac and Casa San Matias. The mezcals are produced in small batches by a group of ten master mezcaleros in the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca. This Espadín expression is double distilled and bottled at 90 proof.
  • 1
    98
    Rich & Fruity
    4 Copas was founded by Hector Galindo Miranda The brand makes its tequila from 100% organic blue weber agave along with organic agave yeast in its production. The agaves are slow-cooked in traditional brick ovens. (SRP $49)