Ascênda Tequila, founded by Mark Bland and Nicholas Soglanich, officially launched on November 11, 2026, with a bottled blanco and a canned tequila soda made from the same base spirit, according to BevNET.
The brand began sales in Texas, Florida and Arizona, with nationwide online distribution through the retailer Sip Tequila, BevNET and BeverageDaily reported. The bottled Blanco carries a suggested price of 49.99 dollars for a 750 milliliter bottle and 54.99 dollars for a one liter format, while the canned soda has a suggested retail price of 22.49 dollars, according to BeverageDaily.
What is in the bottle and the can
The tequila is produced at NOM 1477, the federal distillery registration for a facility in Amatitán, Jalisco, under Maestro Tequilero Alberto Partida Hermosillo, a fifth generation distiller who also serves as director of operations for Cava de Oro tequila, according to Tasting Table and the Yahoo Lifestyle interview with the founders. Tasting Table reported that Ascênda slow roasts its single estate grown blue Weber agave in stone and brick ovens before fermenting and double distilling the spirit in a mix of stainless steel and copper pot stills, with the resulting blanco bottled at 80 proof, or 40 percent alcohol by volume.
The canned Ascênda Tequila Soda pours that same blanco together with high pH sparkling water the company has described as sourced from the Jalisco highlands, plus a blend of magnesium, sodium and potassium, finishing at 5.5 percent alcohol by volume in a 355 milliliter, or 12 fluid ounce, can, according to BeverageDaily and BevNET's brand listing. Ascênda states its tequila is made only from agave, water and the yeast generated during fermentation, with nothing else added during production, according to the company's launch materials and product pages.
Who built Ascênda
Bland and Soglanich are described in a BevNET press release as bringing complementary backgrounds to the brand. The release states that Soglanich became an early voice in the modern tequila category through The Tequila Wanderer, an Instagram and Facebook platform where he built relationships with distilleries and producers while educating consumers about tequila production, and that Bland spent more than a decade focused on longevity, human performance and emerging technologies before co-founding the brand. Tasting Table separately described Soglanich as a former professional golfer who has tracked tequila news on that same channel for years.
A LinkedIn post from the company, cited in search results tied to Bland's profile, describes the two as South Africans who first met in college in Dallas before later building the expertise that shaped the brand. Ascênda is imported and distributed with support from Helmsman Imports, a Fort Worth based compliance and logistics firm founded in 2021 by Jeff Diego, according to BevNET's brand page for the company.
Where this launch sits in the RTD market
Ascênda enters a tequila based ready to drink segment that has expanded quickly. Tequila Report, citing NIQ retail data, reported that tequila based RTD products reached 779 million dollars in the most recent 52 week period, up 44.7 percent. That same report noted that many competing canned tequila cocktails use a minority share of tequila in their blend, a point Ascênda's founders also raised in their interview with Yahoo Lifestyle and The Manual, where they said the category is often built around flavorings or a separate spirit base rather than the tequila itself.
What is documented and what is not
The production details above, the NOM number, the distiller's name, the ABV figures and the pricing are drawn from the company's own launch materials and from trade and lifestyle coverage that quotes the founders directly. No independent lab analysis of either the bottled Blanco or the canned soda has been published by a third party, and none is cited in any of the coverage reviewed. The company's characterization of its own ingredient list has not been checked against any public certification or registry beyond what Ascênda has disclosed on its own website and in its press materials.