Which tequilas are the UK's Best Bars serving? That's the question we asked for this latest instalment of The CLASS Report. 

---

So, with so much money on the table you’d expect the big players to dominate the top of the list, the likes of Diageo’s Don Julio and Casamigos, Bacardi’s Patrón and Cazadores, Pernod’s Olmeca Altos, Campari’s Espolòn and Brown-Forman’s El Jimador

Well, no. The two most dominant players in the UK’s best bars are brands produced at the Camarena family’s La Alteña Distillery. Tapatio, which is owned by the family and distributed by Speciality Brands, and Heaven Hill’s Ocho, which was founded by Tomas Estes and Carlos Camerena and is distributed by Cask.

The numbers are striking. Tapatio was the top seller in 21% of bars, Ocho 20%. But get this: Tapatio was one of the three bestselling tequilas in 44% of bars, Ocho in 36%. So how have these brands managed it? Well the people who sell the product do make a difference. Our respondents volunteered praise for the knowledge and expertise of both teams.

But we cannot get away from that old chestnut of value proposition – both of these are properly made 100% agave tequilas, with their blancos coming in at a trade price around £20. Nothing makes a bar operator happier than speed rail spirits that they actually like. And when we asked respondents what tequilas excite them – not just what they sell most of – the answer came back, Ocho, Fortaleza and Tapatio.

In third comes Patrón, which has always been more than just about the juice. It invented super-premium-and-above tequila, raising the ceiling for everyone. Given its domination of tequila’s airspace you’d expect more than 9% of the UK’s best bars to call it their bestseller. Coming in at a price that is not far from twice Ocho and Tapatio, it’s instead an upsell for most bars. A further 23% of bars said it was their second bestseller and another 8% said it was their third tequila.

The Vazquez family’s Cazcabel – distributed in the UK by Proof Drinks – is another that comes in the bar industry’s sweet-spot price. It takes its share of contracts 7% – said it was their go-to – and appears among the supporting cast too. 19% said it was among their top three.

Diageo’s Casamigos has rocketed in global volumes in recent years, including finding traction in the UK trade. Price wise, it’s up with Patrón, not down with Tapatio, Ocho and Cazcabel, and our survey says it’s the top tequila in 7% of bars. It was among the top three in 13%.

Up to now, we’ve mentioned only 100% agave tequilas. But the case for mixtos is starting to gain some traction and El Tequileño – distilled from 70% agave, 20% piloncillo and 10% sugarcane – has some history behind it, packaging that chimes with the 100% agave movement and a price that’s hard to argue with at under £20. It has the house at 7% of our sample of the UK’s best bars. But if it’s not the pour, it’s unlikely to be on the back bar.

Pernod Ricard’s Olmeca Altos, meanwhile, takes its share of the contracts with 7% of bars saying it was their bestseller. At its price point it sits between the bestsellers and the upsells, such as Don Julio, which was barely a house pour anywhere we asked, but in the top-three choices in 14% of bars. It was a similar case for Volcan de mi Tierra and Herradura, which our poll shows to be bit-part players in the channel.