Cimarron Tequila
| Cimarron is the tequila bartenders keep hidden behind the bar, because it's too good for its price. From the volcanic highlands around Atotonilco el Alto, where the Fonseca family has tended agave fields for generations, comes a tequila with no additives and no shortcuts – just pure, earthy agave, distilled by a man who knows his plants better than most people know their neighbours. |
About Cimarron
Cimarron is often called the insider's pick among tequila lovers – the bottle experienced bartenders reach for when they're paying with their own money. It comes from the Tequileña distillery in the town of Tequila, where master distiller Enrique Fonseca uses only agave from his own fields in the Los Altos highlands. No diffuser, no added sugar or colouring, no shortcuts – just fully mature plants, artesian well water and time. This is the kind of tequila that doesn't need a story to taste good, but happens to have a great one anyway, if you're willing to listen.
History & Background
The Tequileña distillery has stood in the town of Tequila for decades, but it really took off when Enrique Fonseca bought the plant from Bacardi in 1989. The Fonseca family had grown agave for generations in the highlands around Atotonilco el Alto, and when two major tequila houses suddenly cancelled their supply contracts in the mid-1980s, the family was left with fields full of mature agave and nowhere to sell it. The solution was to distill it themselves. In 1994, Cimarron was born as a more accessible, everyday expression of that same highland philosophy – same agave, same distillery, just without the luxury price tag.
Production & Style
The agave is 100% Blue Weber, hand-harvested at full maturity from the Fonseca family's own fields in Los Altos. Distillation takes place in a two-column copper still that Enrique modified himself – he removed most of the plates to avoid distilling away the character – and the resulting spirit is then blended with pot-distilled tequila for extra body. Blanco is bottled straight after distillation, showing the agave in its purest form. Reposado rests for six months in barrel, picking up a touch of vanilla and soft caramel without losing its earthy core.
Signature Style
Vegetal. Earthy. Peppery. Soft oak.
Cimarron tastes of place, not of polish. Blanco is dry, vegetal and peppery with a fresh edge of citrus peel. Reposado layers on a thin veil of vanilla and soft oak without smothering the earthy agave character that's the whole point of drinking Cimarron in the first place.
Facts
| Producer | Tequileña (NOM 1146) |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Pronounced | See-mah-RON (stress on the last syllable) |
| Region | Los Altos (The Mexican Highlands), Jalisco |
| Country | Mexico |
| Owner | The Fonseca family |
| Agave variety | 100% Blue Weber Agave (Agave Tequilana Weber) |
| Official website | tequilena.com |
Awards & Recognition
Cimarron won silver at the Bartender Spirits Awards in 2022 and is regularly praised by the American cocktail magazine Punch as one of the best "well tequilas" on the market. On Tequila Matchmaker, where tequila nerds rate each other's favourites, Cimarron consistently scores in the 80–86 point range – impressive for a bottle at this price point.
Did You Know?
Enrique Fonseca knew nothing about distilling tequila when he bought the Tequileña distillery – so he travelled to Scotland to apprentice under Scotch whisky distillers, then on to France to learn barrel ageing from winemakers and blending from Cognac houses. That mix of Scottish and French craftsmanship is still why Tequileña distills on both copper pot and column stills and blends the results together.
Like Cimarron?
You might also like Ocho Tequila and Corralejo Tequila – two other highland tequilas with the dirt still under their fingernails.