Tequila Ocho released Puntas 2026 on September 29, 2026, the brand's first Puntas bottling in two years and the first edition of the high proof cut to ship outside the United States.
The release carries a suggested retail price of $74.99 per 750 milliliter bottle and reaches 55 percent alcohol by volume, or 110 proof, which Heaven Hill Brands and Beverage Information Group both describe as the maximum strength Mexican regulation permits for tequila.
What puntas means and why the proof keeps climbing
Puntas is the Spanish term tequila makers use for the distiller's cut taken from the tail end of the heads and the start of the heart during the second distillation. Tequila Ocho and co-founder Carlos Camarena describe the cut as preserving more concentrated agave character than the heart cut alone, which the company says is what most other high proof tequilas on the market use instead.
The line has climbed in proof every year it has appeared. Tequila Ocho introduced Puntas in April 2022 at 50.5 percent ABV, 101 proof, using agave from Rancho La Ladera, priced at $59.99 with 600 cases released in the United States, according to BevNET and Fred Minnick's coverage at the time. The 2023 edition, sourced from Rancho Mesa Colorada and distilled at the brand's Tequilera Los Alambiques facility, went to 53 percent ABV, 106 proof, with roughly 1,100 cases sold in just over 20 states at $74.99, Fred Minnick and BevNET reported. Puntas 2024, made from a single field called Rancho Mirandillas at 5,200 feet in the Jalisco highlands, reached 54 percent ABV, 108 proof, with 3,500 cases allocated to the U.S. market at the same $74.99 price, according to Heaven Hill's own release. There was no Puntas edition in 2025.
Where this year's agave came from
Puntas 2026 is made from agave harvested across five fields in what the company calls the Rio Lerma zone, land more than 5,000 feet above sea level that sits on the natural border between the states of Jalisco and Michoacán, according to the release material distributed through BevNET and Heaven Hill. It is the first time a Puntas batch has drawn on fields in two states rather than a single named rancho. The company describes the zone's gray, medium nutrient soil and a climate that runs warm and dry before heavy late summer rainfall, conditions it says push the agave to mature over five to seven years and grow to nearly 60 pounds per plant.
Company tasting notes cited by Beverage Information Group describe a nose of guava, green pineapple, kiwi, apple, white pepper, olives and bell pepper, a palate of cooked agave, lemon peel, sour orange and tamarind with smoky and ripe pineapple notes, and a finish of eucalyptus and menthol.
Who owns Tequila Ocho and where it is distilled
Carlos Camarena, a fifth generation agave farmer and third generation tequilero, founded Tequila Ocho in 2008 with Tomás Estes, a tequila ambassador credited with building the spirit's following in Europe, according to VinePair. The brand's identifying idea was to name the specific rancho and harvest year on each label, a practice the company says tequila had not used before.
Ocho's tequila was originally distilled at La Alteña, the Camarena family's historic Arandas distillery that also makes Tapatío and, under contract, El Tesoro. The brand moved production in March 2023 to Tequilera Los Alambiques, a separate facility built in 2021, VinePair reported. Heaven Hill Brands, based in Kentucky, acquired Tequila Ocho in February 2022 as part of its purchase of Samson & Surrey, a deal that also brought Heaven Hill the Widow Jane whiskey, FEW Spirits, Brenne, Bluecoat Gin and Mezcal Vago brands, according to Heaven Hill's own account of the acquisition.
Availability and pricing
Heaven Hill will distribute 2,200 nine liter cases of Puntas 2026 in the United States through on premise accounts and retail stores, with a limited allocation set aside for duty free retailers in Mexico and for select markets in Europe, Beverage Information Group reported. The $74.99 suggested retail price matches the two most recent prior editions.
What this means
Tequila Watch's database carries two earlier Puntas vintages, the 2021 La Ladera bottling and the 2023 Mesa Colorada release, each scored before this year's jump to 110 proof and before Ocho sourced agave from across a state line. Puntas 2026 has not been scored. Worth watching is whether blending fields from two states changes the profile enough to move the pillar scores, and whether a first global rollout changes how the bottling is priced once it reaches markets outside the United States.