Why We Buy 130% More Añejo the Week Before Xmas

In the week before Christmas, Americans buy 2.3 times as much añejo tequila as they do in an average week. That's 130% more. It held true in each of the last three holiday seasons.

More than 12% of all dollars spent on añejo tequila in a year are spent in December. A typical month gets about 8.5%.

Why? We found out.

It's tempting to call añejo a winter tequila. Barrel-aged, amber color, made for a cold night by the fire.

But it's not about the temperature. If it were, Florida would be a weak añejo market in December, with winter temps still in the 60s and 70s.

Instead, Florida's December añejo sales run 60% above normal. New York runs 63% above. New Jersey, 57%. Massachusetts, 50%. Texas posts the biggest December jump of the states in the analysis, at 91%.

Further, in January and February, the coldest stretch of the year, añejo sells below its average pace in all of those states. Nationally it runs about 15% under normal. If cold weather drove sales of aged tequila, February would be one of añejo's best months. Instead, it's one of its worst.

Sweden, a country that knows something about cold, shows the same pattern. A 10-year study of Swedish alcohol consumption found drinking peaked in July and December, bottomed out in February and November, and had no link to hours of sunlight.

The calendar sells añejo, not the thermometer.

Because they give it away or bring it to a party.

In a Numerator survey of holiday alcohol buyers, 61% said they bought alcohol to give as a gift. Nearly one in four gave a bottle to the host of a party they attended.

Our own research points the same way. In our national survey of tequila drinkers, 81% said they think about what their bottle says about them when they bring one to a gathering. And while they typically spend about $41 on a blanco for themselves, 49% have bought a bottle costing $100 or more. Read the full study, Tequila's 10% Problem.

The timing is telling. Thanksgiving week is the first spike. Añejo sells about 55% to 60% more than in a normal week. That's roughly double the bump that blanco and reposado tequilas experience. Sales fall off right after Thanksgiving, then climb to a peak the week before Christmas and stay high through New Year's Eve. Why? That's when holiday season parties occur.

New Year's Eve is a big añejo occasion. During that week, añejo sales still run about 70% to 80% above normal, while bourbon has already dropped back to about 15% above normal. People seem to be doing a lot more añejo toasting on NYE than bourbon toasting.

Interestingly, these añejo gift-givers and tequila-bringers aren't splurging all that much. The average 750ml bottle of añejo sold for $66 in December 2025, about 3% higher than the rest of the year. December means more bottles, not dramatically pricier ones.

At the holidays, yes. And the longer a tequila spends in a barrel, the bigger its December. Here's how December sales compare to an average week in the 2025 season:

Tequila as a whole rises only 22% in December, because blanco and reposado are year-round spirits. Añejo is the part of tequila that behaves like whiskey.

That's useful to know when you're shopping for the bourbon drinker on your list. A well-made añejo is a natural crossover, and we've recognized 44 great tequilas for bourbon and whiskey drinkers.

Here are the 25 brands with the biggest December sales increase, averaged across the last two holiday seasons. Every brand here sells at least $400,000 a year in añejo and extra añejo. Of the 72 brands that cleared that bar, these 25 rose the most.

This compares average weekly sales in the five holiday weeks (Dec 7, 2024 to Jan 4, 2025, and Dec 6, 2025 to Jan 3, 2026) with an average week across the surrounding 52 weeks. 2.00× means a December week sells twice a normal week. Includes brands with at least $400,000 in añejo and extra añejo sales in the most recent 52 weeks.

G4 tops the list by a wide margin. Its December weeks averaged more than five times a normal week. Part of that is reach. The number of stores selling G4 añejo in December jumped more than fourfold. A typical brand roughly doubles.

123 is the other outlier. Its 2025 holiday ran 5.27 times normal. In 2024, it was just 1.25 times.

Statement bottles still matter. Grand Mayan, Clase Azul and Dos Artes, all in ceramic or hand-painted bottles, rank third through fifth.

Don Julio is the kingpin of December añejo. It accounts for 54% of ALL December añejo dollars on its own. Its December sales ran 1.63 times normal, which ranks 35th of the 72 brands.

Price matters, but it doesn't decide everything. 1800 and Gran Centenario sell for $39 to $54 and their sales rise nearly as much as those of bottles that cost double or more.

Other añejos at similar prices barely move. Espolón, Corazón, Teremana, and Lunazul sell for $28 to $41 and run just 3% to 14% above normal in December.

The difference seems to be reputation. The añejos that see the biggest sales growth in December are the ones people recognize as a gift. The giver assumes the recipient knows the brand and will recognize it as a worthy gift.

Those are the brands that cashed in most on December gifting over the last two holiday seasons. But they're not the only añejos worth giving, or bringing to a party.

We've picked 53 great añejos under $80 and published that new list today. It's full of absolute gems, all of which would make a great gift (or buy one for your host and one for yourself).

EMBED LINK TO LIST

Our full holiday gift guide, with tequila bottles, accessories, merch, experiences, and more, arrives November 27. Watch for it.

They go right back down. For three straight weeks in January, añejo sells about 20% below an average week. Sure, there's that pesky "Dry January," but añejo tequila sales in January dip more than bourbon's do.

Nothing about the tequila changed. Same agave, same barrels, same bottle. The only thing that changed was the calendar.

Sales figures are from an analysis of retail scan data, total US stores, for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 holiday seasons. Whiskey comparisons cover the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Scan data covers store sales only, not online orders shipped direct or bar and restaurant sales.