El Tesoro Reposado has won the Tequila Trophy at the 2026 International Wine and Spirits Competition, the IWSC announced October 27, 2026, naming the barrel rested spirit its top tequila of the year.

The tequila is produced at La Alteña Distillery, NOM 1139, in the Jalisco highlands near Arandas, Mexico, a facility the Camarena family has run since 1937. The El Tesoro brand itself belongs to Suntory Global Spirits, the company that absorbed Beam Suntory's portfolio in a 2024 rebrand.

How the IWSC trophy round works

The competition, founded in 1969, assesses more than 12,000 entries from over 90 countries each year. Judging is double blind: samples are poured into numbered glasses so panelists never see a label, and the organization caps each judging day at 65 samples to limit palate fatigue. Gold medal winners are retasted by an independent Spirits Judging Committee before the strongest entries advance to trophy judging, with winners revealed at an awards ceremony in London each November.

The result arrived in two stages. In June 2026 the IWSC published its Gold Outstanding list for agave spirits, and all four of that tier's top honors went to mezcal; the highest scoring tequila at that point was South Africa's Inzalo Batch One Agave Spirit, at 96 points. El Tesoro Reposado was one of five Gold medal winners that round in the Reposado Tequila category, alongside Ocho Reposado from Heaven Hill Brands, Hornitos Reposado, Siete Leguas Reposado from the Sazerac Company, and Irlandes Reposado from BAG Irlandes LLC. The outright Tequila Trophy, decided in the later retasting round, went to El Tesoro Reposado and was confirmed in the IWSC's October release.

Who makes El Tesoro and who owns the brand

Don Felipe Camarena opened La Alteña in the Los Altos highlands of Jalisco in 1937. He passed the distillery to his son, Felipe J. Camarena Orozco, who left it to his children Lilianna, Gabriela and Carlos, with Carlos running production as master distiller for decades. The commercial El Tesoro brand did not exist until 1990, when it launched as a joint venture between the Camarena family and American promoters Robert Denton and Marilyn Smith. Denton and Smith sold the trademark to Fortune Brands in 1999. Suntory bought Fortune's spirits arm, Beam Inc., in 2014 to form Beam Suntory, which was renamed Suntory Global Spirits in 2024. The Camarena family continues to make the tequila under contract at the distillery it still owns and operates; production today is overseen by Jenny Camarena, great granddaughter of the founder.

What the judges said, and what the bottle costs

El Tesoro Reposado is bottled at 40 percent ABV from estate grown Blue Weber agave crushed with a volcanic tahona wheel, then aged roughly nine to eleven months in American oak barrels previously used for bourbon, according to the brand's published specifications. IWSC judge Stephanie DiCamillo-May, cited in the competition's own agave analysis, said reposado winners this year were notably restrained in their barrel usage. The panel's tasting notes, carried by Forbes, described aromas of aniseed, mint and tropical fruit layered over the tequila's agave base. Retail pricing for the 750 milliliter bottle varies by market: listings reviewed this month ranged from about $56 at some retailers to roughly $70 to $75 at others, and two separate Forbes writers who checked different stores cited figures of $55.99 and $70.

What this means

El Tesoro Reposado already carries a published TW Score of 82 out of 95 in this publication's database, with no third party organic certification on file. An IWSC trophy measures something different: a single annual blind tasting result rather than a four pillar assessment, and it says nothing about certification either way. Still undisclosed is the raw numeric score the IWSC panel gave the winning entry; the organization has published tasting notes and medal tier but not that figure.