How Mexico's First Olympic Gold Medal Inspired a Famous Tequila Brand

Mexico has won 13 Olympic gold medals in its proud history. But the first victory may be the most special, and certainly remains the most impactful in the tequila world.

In 1936, when he was just 25 years old, avid horseman and entry-level Mexican military officer Humberto Mariles Cortés was sent to the Berlin Olympics to observe the riding events, tasked with designing the military’s equestrian program upon his return.

Not long after, he found and purchased an athletic young horse on a farm in Mexico. Named Arete, the horse had natural athleticism, agility, and intelligence.

As the bond between horse and rider grew, Mariles was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and built the Mexican Olympic equestrian teams. These were comprised primarily of military officers. Mariles competed in the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Games.

Arete was a good horse. A great horse, even. But he had just a single flaw. The horse only had one eye, having lost the other in a training exercise before he was purchased by Mariles.

This curiosity was widely known, and controversial.

When Mariles was preparing for the 1948 Olympics in London, Mexico’s President Miguel Alemán Valdés ordered that Arete not be a part of the team, fearing the horse’s missing eye would bring shame upon the nation during the competition.

Mariles, knowing the horse’s skills were irreplaceable, refused to switch horses and secretly brought Arete to London anyway.

Once discovered, this ruse enraged the President, who threatened arrest and a military court martial.

But Mariles and Arete were the last of 44 riders to compete in the individual show jumping event, and won easily, given Mexico its first-ever gold medal.

Not only was the Colonel not court-martialed, a parade was held in his honor, a statue of him and Arete were erected in Mexico City, and he was promoted to General.

Years later, a young horse enthusiast named Eduardo Orendain began his own equestrian career, and competed in many horse jumping tournaments.

He named his horse Arete, as a tribute to the famous one-eyed medal winner.

Like the Colonel/General, Orendain is not a tall man, so the nickname given to him by his equestrian coach? Mariles.

This new generation of Mariles + Arete was not quite able to reach Olympics level, at least in horse jumping. In tequila? Definitely at the top of the medal stand.

Eduardo is a grandson of Don Eduardo Orendain González, the founder and first President of the National Chamber of Tequila Industry. The Orendains have been making tequila in the town of Tequila since 1844.

In 1986 Eduardo Orendain and his brother Jaime took control of the family’s historic distillery, El Llano. First established in 1900, El Llano (NOM 1109) is the third-oldest distillery in Tequila, and today is the oldest continuously operating family-run distillery in the tequila industry.

After four years of making tequila for others, Eduardo and Jaime decided to create their own tequila brand, in 1990.

When considering names, Eduardo unsurprisingly offered Arete as an option, given the original horse’s fame, and the fact that he named his own horse the same.

The Mexican trademark office would not allow the brand to be called “Arete” since it was and is a proper name.

The Orendains shifted to “Arette” to allow the name to be protected.

“And the two T’s represent the two brothers, Eduardo and Jaime,” says Eduardo Orendain Jr., Arette’s Commercial Director and a fifth generation tequilero.

Across the subsequent 35 years, Arette has become one of the best-known craft tequila brands, combining a terrific and affordable core lineup with innovative aging and special releases. 100% agave and 100% additive-free tequilas are all that is made by Arette.

The core Arette in the signature square-shouldered bottles are considered one of the best value-to-price ratios in the entire tequila industry.

This Clásico lineup features autoclave cooking and fermentation in open-air stainless steel tanks. More heads and tails are included in the final distillation blend.

Arette Clásico includes blanco, reposado, and añejo all at 40% ABV (in the United States). Clásico reposado is aged ~6 months in American white oak barrels. The añejo is rested for 14-18 months.

Arette also makes a full lineup of Artesanal tequilas.

These differ from Clásico in cooking method, with Artesanal using a stone oven. Fermentation for this line is in cement pools (unusual these days in the tequila industry). In distillation, only hearts are used for Artesenal, giving these expressions a milder yet still full-bodied flavor.

In the Artesenal line, Arette leads with the Suave blanco, and the Suave reposado aged for 11 months.

You’ll also find the Suave añejo, aged a minimum of 18 months, as well as the sought-after Gran Clase extra añejo. This one has deep, rich character after spending 3+ years in oak barrels, and each bottle is hand decorated.

Want more insight into the differences between the Arette lineups? See this video explainer from Brad Niccum, part of the Tequila Report Reviewers team.

Arette is distributed fairly broadly in the USA, but if you can’t find Arette, head over to our partners Old Town Tequila or NOM170. Old Town has all the Arette expressions, and NOM 170 has some outstanding, rare Arette single-barrel projects. Nice!

Remember, Tequila Report Insiders save 10% on purchases from all of our online partners.

So the next time you see a horse on the bottle, remember it’s not just any horse, it’s the famous champion, Arete.

Tequila Arette is a presenting partner of The Tequila Report.