Tequila and mezcal remained the most-requested base spirits behind American bars through mid-2026, bartenders and brand executives told the trade press, even as national sales data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States showed the category's first annual revenue drop in years.
The gap between what happens at the bar rail and what shows up in nationwide retail scanner data is now the defining story in agave spirits. DISCUS reported that U.S. tequila and mezcal sales fell 4.1 percent to 6.4 billion dollars in 2025, with volume down 0.3 percent to 32.1 million nine liter cases, according to figures the trade group presented at its annual economic briefing and reported by CNBC and The Spirits Business. Total U.S. spirits supplier revenue fell 2.2 percent to 36.4 billion dollars over the same period.
What the conflicting sales numbers actually show
DISCUS chief executive Chris Swonger attributed the broader pullback to weakening consumer confidence, telling reporters that total spirits sales edged down but the industry remained resilient on the strength of newer products. A separate dataset complicates the picture. The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, which tracks 18 control states covering roughly a fifth to a quarter of the U.S. spirits market according to estimates from investment bank TD Cowen, found that tequila was one of only two spirits categories to post growth in 2025. Tequila volumes in those control states rose 2.2 percent to just under 7.1 million cases, pushing sales value up 0.2 percent to 2.51 billion dollars, even as the category's price and mix slipped 2.1 percent, a sign that consumers traded down to cheaper bottles rather than abandoning the category outright.
Why bartenders describe a different reality
That trade-down pattern is visible on the floor. Bar operators interviewed by Market Watch, a trade magazine covering the beverage alcohol industry, describe tequila and mezcal holding or gaining share of pour even as guests spend less per round. Patrick Jennings, bar manager at Andra Hem in Philadelphia, told the magazine that tequila and mezcal cocktail sales now run neck and neck with vodka at his bar and that the drinks built around them have grown far more inventive than the standard Margarita. Brie Wohld, vice president of marketing at Trinchero Family Wines and Spirits, which owns Tres Agaves Tequila, said the broader spirits market is under pressure but that tequila continues to outperform on a relative basis, citing the category's versatility. Brittany Wenig, senior brand manager for Lunazul Tequila at Heaven Hill Brands, described the segment as having begun to normalize after several years of outsized growth.
Bar professionals also point to a widening menu beyond tequila and mezcal themselves. Ashly Levi, bar manager at Casa Ya'ax in Miami, dates the start of the current boom to 2014 and said other Mexican agave spirits such as sotol and bacanora are now drawing curious drinkers of their own. Industry accounts trace an earlier inflection point to 2013, when the celebrity-backed Casamigos brand launched, a moment bartenders and executives credit with pulling a wave of new entrants and new drinkers into the category.
A distributor collapse complicates supply
The demand picture is unfolding against a disrupted distribution system. Republic National Distributing Company, long the second largest alcohol wholesaler in the country, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 26, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston. Court filings reviewed by The Spirits Business and The Street show RNDC's largest unsecured creditor is Proximo Spirits, the U.S. distributor of Jose Cuervo tequila, owed more than 93.9 million dollars. The wholesaler had already withdrawn from California in 2025 after losing major supplier accounts, a move that left smaller producers scrambling for new routes to market, according to reporting by The Spirits Business.
What this means
The two data sets point to the same underlying shift rather than a contradiction: national dollar sales are cooling because the largest legacy brands are losing share, while smaller and craft-focused labels are absorbing bar demand at lower average prices. Tequila Watch's database already reflects that split in the scores it has published for brands named above, including Tres Agaves Organic Blanco, whose corporate parent's own marketing executive is quoted here describing the category's relative resilience. Whether that bifurcation holds through a distributor bankruptcy that is still working through the courts is the detail worth watching next.