Colorado Athletics and Suerte Tequila, the Boulder, Colorado producer, released a reposado edition of their co-branded Colorado Buffaloes tequila line on October 8, 2026, directing eight percent of every bottle's proceeds to the university's Name, Image and Likeness fund.
The bottle is the second release in a licensing arrangement that Colorado Athletics and Suerte built through Learfield's Buffalo Sports Properties, the exclusive multimedia rights holder for Colorado Athletics. The companies introduced the first product, the Suerte Blanco CU Edition, on May 19, 2026, and said then that further releases were planned, a pipeline the reposado now fulfills.
What is in the Reposado CU Edition
Suerte's standard reposado, the base expression for the new Buffs label, is produced from 100 percent blue Weber agave that is tahona crushed and double distilled, then rested seven months in charred American oak whiskey barrels at 40 percent alcohol by volume, according to the brand's own product listings. Retail prices for the core Reposado have ranged from roughly 30 to 48 dollars for a 750 milliliter bottle across different sellers, while the earlier Suerte Blanco CU Edition has sold for 38.99 dollars through the company's website. Neither Colorado Athletics nor Suerte has published separate specifications for the Reposado CU Edition beyond the Buffs branded packaging, and the companies have not said whether the liquid differs in any way from the standard release.
How the NIL revenue share is structured
NIL, or Name, Image and Likeness, refers to the compensation framework the NCAA adopted on June 30, 2021, allowing college athletes to be paid for the commercial use of their identity. Colorado Athletics and Suerte say eight percent of proceeds from every CU Edition bottle sold will go to the university's NIL fund, the pool used to pay Buffs athletes under that policy. Fernando Lovo, Colorado's director of athletics, said the partnership would directly help Colorado student-athletes pursue their NIL ambitions. Laurence Spiewak, Suerte's co-founder and president, called the arrangement a hometown fit for a brand built in Boulder. When the companies rolled out the first bottle in May, Andrew Popchock, general manager of Buffalo Sports Properties, the Learfield unit that has handled CU's multimedia and sponsorship rights since 2001, said the deal gave Buffs fans the first officially licensed tequila built around the program. Neither side has disclosed unit sales, total bottles produced, or a projected dollar figure for what the NIL fund will collect from the line.
Who makes Suerte Tequila
Suerte was founded in 2012 by Boulder entrepreneurs Laurence Spiewak and Lance Sokol, who built the brand around a single distillery relationship in Mexico rather than contract production across multiple plants. The tequila is made at Tequilera Simbolo in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco, under NOM 1530, the four digit registration number that identifies the specific distillery on a bottle's label, with Pedro Hernandez Barba serving as master distiller. Suerte has said it is the only brand produced at that distillery. The standing lineup includes a blanco, a still strength blanco, the reposado now carrying the Buffs label, and an añejo aged two years, alongside limited single barrel releases the company has sold periodically since 2024.
What this means
Suerte's standard Blanco carries a TW Score of 70 of 95 in Tequila Watch's database, with no Verified Organic certificate on file for the brand. The Reposado CU Edition itself has not been scored, and what remains unverified is whether its liquid matches the standard release, since neither company has detailed any difference. How much money actually reaches CU's NIL fund will depend on sales volume that neither party has disclosed.