Flecha Azul Tequilas Form Unexpectedly Strong Lineup

Bottle Details

• DISTILLER: Orendain Distillery, NOM 1110
• TYPE: Blanco, Reposado and Anejo Tequilas
• MASH BILL: 100% Blue Webber Agave
• AGES: 0 months, 6 months and 18 months respectively
• YEAR: 2026
• PROOF: 80 (40% AVB)
• AVAILABILITY: Nationwide
• MSRP: $40.99, $47.99 and $58.99 respectively
• BUY ONLINE: Flecha Azul Bottle Shop: Blanco, Reposado, Anejo

TASTING NOTES

BLANCO:

NOSE: Nicely vegetal and redolent of slow roasted agave and vinazas. A little white pepper, crushed fresh herbs and wet forest. Pleasant overall.

PALATE: This starts with a sweet dose of agave nectar, a tingle of white pepper and some grilled nopales. It's properly light bodied and lithe around the palate, dropping spice and honey bombs here and there. This isn't overly complex, but it's good overall: perfectly fine for sipping and well suited for citrus-accented cocktails.

FINISH: Warm, peppery, lightly sweet and herbal, medium length.

REPOSADO:

NOSE: It starts and stays far more muted than the blanco. Vigorous swirling releases some butterscotch, toasted oak, some agave nectar and vanilla, faint black pepper and a whiff of toasted macadamia nuts.

PALATE: This begins beautifully (if not surprisingly given the muted nose) with agave nectar, baking spice and tingly white pepper. Light minerality and cinnamon come into play along with toasted oak, flamed citrus and tropical flowers.

FINISH: Medium length, nicely viscous, rewardingly spicy and brightly citrus with a cooling menthol effect.

ANEJO:

NOSE: This starts off big, nicely mineral and woody before moving to ripe tropical fruits and flowers. The highly green note is alluring and frustratingly furtive: I can't decide whether it's lemongrass, spearmint, chai tea or a combo of all three. There's scarcely little agave on the nose, but that's no sleight. I'm really intrigued by other aromas at play.

PALATE: Agave shows up loud and proud, followed by pleasant caramel and tingling lemon-pepper. Mouthfeel is viscous, weighty and fortified with agave nectar notes. It's not overly complex, but it is a delicious sipper.

FINISH: Surprisingly spicy and long lasting.

Reviewer's Verdict

RATING: Bottle for all three. Prices you see above do not reflect those stated in a press release sent to me some months ago. They are lower at Flecha Azul's website, which shows sensible discounting is underway.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yes on all three counts.

WHO IT'S FOR: While I like to introduce newcomers to tequila to some of the best stuff I have, sometimes it's wiser to start with affordable quality pours they can find locally, turn into cocktails without regret and learn the basic differences in blanco, reposado and anejo. Flecha Azul tequilas do all that without breaking the bank, which is a win.

REVIEWER'S VERDICT:

Every year I travel to Destilleria La Fortaleza in Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, for a press trip. Despite the previous night's lengthy and tequila soaked dinner, the first day always begins with a modest hike up a hill to the Erickson-Sauza family's high look out point. Visible from there are Tequila Volcan (Tequila's namesake dead volcano) to the right, blue-green agave fields stretching for miles into the foreground, and the town of Tequila (home to 31 distilleries) to the left. Turn around to see two more distilleries: Fabrica La Prieta, and the Orendain Distillery, where Flecha Azul Tequila is made.

Tequila nerd alert: About a half mile away is Los Camichines (home to Jose Cuervo), where 47 million liters of tequila are made annually. At Orendain, 6 million liters are produced each year, which is almost 8 times what's made yearly at Fortaleza (40,000 liters). Fortaleza's distillery is so tiny that it's hidden from its owners' lookout. So, when you're sad-mad-angry that you can't find a bottle of Fortaleza anything, much less Winter Blend, maybe these numbers will clarify why you can't and defuse some of your angst.

That Orendain isn't a house known for tequilas stalked by enthusiasts helps make Flecha Azul a standout in its lineup. The distillery does use stone/brick ovens for cooking agave, which most serious tequila drinkers prefer. That slow cooking process (48 to 72 hours) noticeably enriches the agave impact on the distillate, and it's apparent in these three releases.

Orendain's tequila recipe is simple: 100% blue Weber agave, volcanic water and yeast. Whether that yeast is a single controlled strain or wild strains pouring in on high desert breezes, I don't know. It's also nice to know that Lorena Diaz, one of only about 12 women distillers in all of Tequila (out of 150-plus and mostly male distillers) runs the operation here.

I'm like most who cringe when learning a tequila brand is celebrity backed. Why? Too often it implies a simple formula at work: an eye-catching bottle, a big ad campaign and low-quality tequila dosed with additives.

I have nothing against actor Mark Wahlberg and knew nothing about Mexican professional golfer, Abraham Ancer (founder of Flecha Azul) before trying this spirit. But knowing someone was using those men's fame to market that liquid made me slow to accept the offer of review samples.

Truth is, I'm glad I eventually did.

All three of these tequilas are good to very good; ideal for mainstream consumers who might not like old school tequila with a little funk from long fermentation, minerality from tahona crushing or sharp agave sweetness born of expert distilling.

I typically skew toward blancos, but while this was my least favorite of the trio, it still was good. No flaws at all. Though not dazzling, it's a solid cocktail tequila that lent an unexpected rustic character to last night's margarita; a note favorably similar to those I've enjoyed in Mexico.

The anejo was a complete surprise. Rich mouthfeel, sufficient depth and a lot of agave–which isn't always the case with 18-month-old tequilas that too often favor barrel flavors over source material.

The reposado landed right between the others on the preference scale. Solid in every way: a great jumping in point for teaching newbies about aged tequila. I'm betting this is the line's most popular SKU.

When it comes to celebrity backed tequilas, I can't think of any I like more than these. Absolutely nothing comes to mind. I really look forward to pouring this blind for tequila savvy friends, and then telling them it's celeb backed. I expect some surprised looks.