Impact Databank: Tequila On Pace for 16th Consecutive Annual Increase
September 22, 2025Despite continuing challenges across the drinks market, the Tequila category in the U.S. is projected to eke out a 1% volume gain this year, according to the 2025 edition of The U.S. Spirits Market: Shanken’s Impact Databank Review & Forecast. Tequila joins spirits-based RTDs and non-alc spirits as the only segments of the industry expected to register growth in 2025, according to the 282-page Impact Databank report.
In case volume and absolute dollar terms, much of the growth this year can be attributed to Diageo’s Don Julio, whose aged expressions now comprise 80% of the brand. In NielsenIQ channels for the year-to-date ending September 6, Don Julio’s Reposado grew 57% by volume and 55% by dollar value. Despite ranking outside the top 10 spirits in the U.S. by volume, Don Julio is projected to become the market’s largest brand in dollar terms in 2025, surpassing Tito’s vodka, according to Impact Databank.
Fellow Diageo high-end Tequila label Casamigos is expected to post its second straight decline this year, but the company hopes to reinvigorate the franchise with its recent entry into the RTD space with a new line of canned Margaritas ($20 an 8-pack), as well as a fresh ad campaign. Meanwhile, luxury-priced Patron is leaning into its additive-free credentials in hopes of returning to growth.
The fastest-growing upscale brand in 2025 in percentage terms has been Lalo Tequila, whose Blanco expression has posted 79% and 81% gains by volume and value, respectively, in NielsenIQ channels year-to-date through September 6. Lalo earned Impact “Hot Prospect” honors after more than doubling in size to 155,000 cases in the U.S. last year. The brand recently released the 2025 edition of its high-proof blanco, bottled at 50% abv and retailing at $75.
Since the pandemic, the fastest-growing Tequila segment has been the $25-$40 sector, led by Campari’s Espolon, Bacardi’s Cazadores, and Proximo’s Gran Centenario. Espolon saw continued first-half gains for Campari, with Blanco up 5% and Reposado up 14% in the U.S. Cazadores could reach one million cases nationwide in 2025, while Gran Centenario has registered strong double-digit growth from its Plata expression the past few years, according to Impact Databank.
Below $25 a bottle, the fastest-growing brand is Heaven Hill’s Lunazul, whose Reposado expression recorded triple-digit growth by both volume and value in NielsenIQ channels year-to-date through September 6. The largest-selling Tequila overall, Proximo’s Jose Cuervo has seen 1% volume growth year-to-date in NielsenIQ channels, boosted by the launch of its new Devil’s Reserve variant.
For more information regarding The U.S. Spirits Market, Impact Databank Review & Forecast, 2025 Edition and other exclusive Shanken publications, click here.—Juan Banaag
| Top Ten Tequila Brands in the U.S. | ||||||
| Rank | Brand | Importer | Total 2024 U.S. Volume1 |
2025 Retail Volume Growth2 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Cuervo | Proximo Spirits | 4.92 | -1.5% | ||
| 2 | Don Julio | Diageo | 3.33 | 21.7% | ||
| 3 | Patrón | Bacardi USA | 2.33 | -14.3% | ||
| 4 | 1800 | Proximo Spirits | 2.05 | -3.4% | ||
| 5 | Casamigos | Diageo | 1.96 | -8.3% | ||
| 6 | Lunazul | Heaven Hill Brands | 1.74 | 24.2% | ||
| 7 | Espolòn | Campari America | 1.58 | 2.2% | ||
| 8 | Hornitos | Suntory Global Spirits | 1.56 | -12.4% | ||
| 9 | Teremana | Mast-Jägermeister US | 1.11 | -7.9% | ||
| 10 | Cazadores | Bacardi USA | 0.92 | 3.6% | ||
| Total Top Ten | 21.49 | 3.2% | ||||
| 1 Millions of 9-liter case depletions. 2 32 weeks ending August 10, 2025 in IRI/Circana channels. Source: NielsenIQ, IRI/Circana and IMPACT DATABANK © 2025 |
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