The Soul of the Soil: Tequila Ocho Expands with Passion and Purpose

By Jay Baer

For decades, the tequila industry operated on the myth of consistency - a belief that every bottle should taste identical, achieved through industrial blending and, often, a heavy hand with additives. It was a direct contradiction to the world of fine wine, where the concept of terroir is sacred. A Pinot Noir grown on the limestone slopes of Burgundy is expected to taste fundamentally different from one grown in the volcanic soil of Oregon.

Then came Tequila Ocho.

Launched in 2008 as a partnership between the late, legendary tequila ambassador Tomas Estes and third-generation master distiller Carlos Camarena, Ocho was the first brand to prove that agave is as sensitive to the earth as any grape. They didn't just make tequila; they made liquid postcards from specific plots of land called ranchos.

Now, Ocho is entering its next chapter. It is a story of expansion, an unexpected homecoming, and a bold new project called Terroir Select, which has been planned for more than five years, before finally coming to fruition in late 2025.

The Evolution of the Earth: From Single Estate to Terroir Select

Since its founding 18 years ago, Tequila Ocho has been defined by its "Single Estate" releases. Each batch produced using 100% Blue Weber agave harvested from a single, specific field. Because the soil, altitude, and slope of each field varied, so did the flavor.

Even today, this variation is not well understood, even among fans of the brand.

Jesse Estes is global brand ambassador for Tequila Ocho. He is the son of co-founder Tomas Estes and a well-known spirits authority in his own right. He acknowledges that sometimes people just don't understand how terroir impacts the flavor of each batch.

“I’ll visit people who are amazing supporters, love the product, sell a lot of it. And I'll go in there and I'll bring two or three different releases to taste with them. And they'll go, ‘what do you mean? These all taste different?’ So even people who have been fans of Tequila Ocho for years, and love the product, they don't always know about the terroir.”

As the brand has continued to grow in the United States, Mexico, and beyond, the Ocho team realized they had an opportunity to tell a broader story. Enter Terroir Select.

"The idea," Estes explains, "is to look at the macro-terroir of the regions we’ve been working in for years." Instead of focusing on one solitary ranch, or micro-terroir, Terroir Select looks at the eight distinct zones surrounding the town of Arandas in Los Altos (the home of Tequila Ocho). These regions - which include areas in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato - each possess a unique geological and climatic thumbprint.

Each batch made from a specific zone will taste different than a batch made from another zone. And for all the batches made from the same distillery, the only production change is the location of the agave harvested to make the tequila. Same cooking, extraction, fermentation, distillation, formulation, filtration, and bottling. The difference is the terroir, which highlights that tequila is unlike bourbon or gin or vodka in that the work of the agavero (agave farmer) and where the plants are grown can have a meaningful impact on flavor.

This introduction of Terroir Select isn't just about geography; it’s also about community and commerce. During the current agave market downturn, many local farmers in Los Altos find themselves in a precarious position whereby the glut of ripe agave is so significant they are unable to sell their crop at any price. This is after tending that agave for seven years! So the first Terroir Select region is called Comunidad (Community) and is made from agave fields in and around Arandas.

By introducing the Terroir Select model, Ocho can support multiple local growers within a specific region, blending agaves that share the same regional characteristics while providing a stable market for the farmers who are the backbone of the industry. Simultaneously, it allows Tequila Ocho to make larger batches at one time, which is necessary for the brand's continued growth. After all, there are a lot more agaves in a region than in a field.

While Carlos Camarena will be purchasing the agave from multiple growers, he remains responsible for selection, and ensuring the agave meets the brand's standards.

Terroir Select will exist alongside the single estate batches. Estes projects approximately two or three Terroir Select releases per year, and four to five Single Estate batches.

Bottle labels will indicate whether a specific tequila is from Single Estate or Terroir Select. But that’s not the only notation to look for on a bottle of Tequila Ocho moving forward.

The Return to La Alteña: A Story of Two Distilleries

Since 2021, Tequila Ocho has been made at the brand's own state-of-the-art distillery, Los Alambiques (NOM 1474). Initially, the brand has produced at the historic Camarena family distillery, La Alteña (NOM 1139), where El Tesoro de Don Felipe and Tapatio are still made. Tequila Ocho’s NOM has always been 1474, however.

But in a move that honors the brand’s past, and provides more production capacity, Ocho will now be produced at both distilleries.

Los Alambiques, perched on Cerro del Gallo (The Rooster's Hill), is a marvel of modern, sustainable engineering. It features solar power, gravity-fed water systems, and was built specifically to handle the slow, artisanal methods Carlos Camarena requires. It is the engine of Ocho’s present and future.

However, the team realized that the soul of the brand remains intertwined with La Alteña, the distillery built by Carlos’s grandfather in 1937. "There is something about the airborne yeast and the deep well water at La Alteña that is irreplicable," Estes notes.

By producing batches at both sites, Ocho is effectively creating "sister" expressions. Same agave, same process, but different water and different air, which impacts fermentation. It is the ultimate test of the ‘different is better’ philosophy: if you change the environment of the fermentation, and the water, you change the tequila itself. Los Alambiques uses deep well water for tequila production, and La Alteña uses spring water that has very high mineral content.

Careful label study will tell consumers whether a batch was made at Los Alambiques or La Alteña, and comparing and contrasting the flavors will be a favorite blind tasting assignment for Ocho fans in the coming years.

According to Estes, here’s what to look for on the back label to determine where each batch was produced:

Remember that fact and instantly become the smartest tequila drinker at a party!

Vintage Variation: A Feature, Not a Bug

In addition to having two different agave sourcing approaches (Single Estate and Terroir Select) and two different distilleries (Los Alambiques and La Alteña), Tequila Ocho also continues to emphasize WHEN their tequila was made, which is a point of emphasis for fewer than five tequila brands in existence.

In most consumer goods, "variation" is a dirty word. If a bottle of Coca-Cola tastes different today than it did yesterday, someone is getting fired. But in the world of Tequila Ocho, variation is the entire point.

This is the "Vintage" concept. Every bottle of Ocho is clearly marked with the year it was produced and the name of the field (or now, region) where the agave was harvested. If a 2023 release tastes more like black pepper and stone fruit, while a 2024 release leans into citrus and mint, the team doesn't reach for an additive to "fix" it. They celebrate it. You're tasting the mineral-driven punch of high-altitude earth in one bottle, and the lush, bright notes of a rain-soaked valley in the next.

"We want the consumer to go on a journey with us," says Estes. "When you drink Ocho, you are tasting a specific year, a specific rain cycle, and a specific piece of soil."

For Jesse Estes, tequila is in his blood. He had a front row seat to Tequila Ocho’s birth and growth. What lessons did he learn from his father and Carlos Camarena? Many of them.

“I learned from the two of them to never compromise on quality, and never compromise our convictions,” says Jesse Estes.

“When Carlos and my father launched Ocho, their peers thought that they were crazy. They were told by many that there was ‘no such thing as terroir in tequila.’ They were also told that consumers were seeking darker liquids and more aging in their reposados, añejos and extra añejos. Instead, my father and Carlos created one of the most lightly aged tequilas on the market. They did this because their goal was to highlight the agave flavor in their tequila, and they found so many brands on the market over-oaked to the point that the wood notes covered up the agave notes. My father and Carlos really went against the grain, in this aspect and many others.”

Today, Ocho is one of the largest non-industrial tequila brands, and was named #3 tequila brand overall by Tequila Report readers in our recent awards. Ocho was also named best overall reposado tequila.

The brand is widely available in the United States, and is one of the few artisanal tequilas that can also be located in Europe and Asia, which is good news for travelers.

Recent batches of Ocho plata (blanco), reposado, añejo, and extra añejo are also available online from Old Town Tequila. Don’t forget Tequila Report Insiders always save 10%.

Photos and map courtesy of Tequila Ocho. Tequila Ocho is a Tequila Report partner.