Cazadores Reposado

Cazadores traces its roots to a Bañuelos family recipe from 1922 and launched commercially in 1973. It was later sold to Bacardi in 2002.

While the current quality can be debated, what cannot be is the strong retail success the brand continues to find.

I see this brand everywhere. Cazadores is one of the biggest names in tequila, generating tens of millions of dollars in sales this summer while posting weekly sales growth of 20.8%.

This Highlands tequila with its iconic stag label is produced at a Bacardi distillery (NOM 1487) in Arandas, Jalisco.

Cazadores uses an industrial diffuser to extract agave juices, then cooks the liquid in an autoclave before fermenting and distilling it. The tequila is aged in new American white oak barrels for at least two months but less than a year to become a reposado.

The diffuser I visited wasn’t at Bacardi, but it left me with quite an impression. That thing was massive—about as long as a basketball court! It essentially acts as an agave car wash, rinsing shredded raw agave with hot water to extract sugars from the fibers. It’s an efficiency play, pure and simple.

I see a familiar pattern here: an old-school tequila beloved by many achieves a level of success before being sold to a spirits conglomerate that can scale it even further with better margins.

I’ve heard from fellow enthusiasts how the original family recipe and production methods delivered a more authentic tequila they now miss.

But I only found Cazadores after industrialized production under Bacardi ownership began. And that’s what I am tasting today.

Aroma: Heavy vanilla, alcohol wipes, wet leaves, moss, and musty oak.

Flavor: Oh, that’s rough! Very sharp medicinal bite. It’s got a ton of medicinal alcohol attempting to be covered by vanilla, with a harsh bitter spice.

Finish: An initial burst of alcohol and spices flattens and trails off fast. Thankfully, the burn doesn’t linger, but an off-putting aftertaste of medical-grade vanilla does.

I wouldn’t call the aroma pleasant, but it at least delivers a semblance of familiarity. The flavor and finish take a sharp turn for the worse, starting harsh and delivering none of the beautiful notes I’ve come to appreciate in quality tequila.

Cazadores is selling strong, whether in grocery and liquor stores or as a well tequila in bars. And this reposado may be the flagship of its lineup, but for me it is a hard pass.

More from Cazadores: All of our Cazadores coverage, including reviews, lists, scores, and more.