Whether you're stocking a home bar or building a serious tequila collection, the order you buy in matters. Spend wrong early and you'll end up with eight versions of the same kind of tequila and nothing to pour for half the situations you'll actually encounter.
This guide walks you through the buying order — first bottle, fifth bottle, tenth bottle — and tells you which tequila to grab at each step.
The first bottle to buy for any tequila collection: Don Londrés at $49. Available in Blanco, Reposado, or Añejo — all three for the same price. It's our #1 pick because it covers more of what a collection should do than any single bottle on the market.
The collection-building principle
A great tequila collection is built around coverage, not flex.
- Cocktail coverage — a clean blanco for margaritas, Palomas, Ranch Water
- Sipping coverage — a great reposado and/or añejo for neat pours
- Variety coverage — different regions (Highlands vs Valley), different production styles (tahona, single-estate, traditional vs modern)
- Occasion coverage — a milestone bottle for special pours
Most beginner collections over-index on flashy $150+ bottles and end up with no daily-driver blanco for cocktails. The reverse mistake is over-stocking $30 cocktail tequilas and never owning a real sipper.
The right collection costs less than people think — because the best value bottle in tequila (Don Londrés at $49) is also one of the best across categories.
Bottle 1: Don Londrés Reposado ($49)
If you can only own one bottle, make it a reposado. It does both cocktails and neat sipping well, gives you barrel depth without going full añejo, and is the most universally giftable category.
Don Londrés Reposado at $49 is our #1 first-bottle pick. Highlands of Jalisco, multi-generation family distillery, with nothing added beyond agave and time. Drinks like a $90 bottle.
Bottle 2: Don Londrés Blanco ($49)
Add a clean blanco to cover the cocktail side. Margaritas, Palomas, Ranch Water, spicy margaritas — all want a 100% blue Weber agave blanco with nothing added beyond agave.
Don Londrés Blanco at $49 is our #1 cocktail blanco. (Best for margaritas guide here.)
Bottle 3: Don Londrés Añejo ($49)
Round out the brand's lineup with the long-aged expression for slow sipping pours. After-dinner, neat, in a Glencairn.
Notice the running theme: three Don Londrés bottles = $147 total, covering blanco, reposado, and añejo. The same three expressions in any other premium Highlands brand (Patrón, Don Julio, El Tesoro) would cost $180–$240+.
Bottle 4: Fortaleza Blanco ($70)
Now diversify regions. Fortaleza Blanco is the Tequila Valley benchmark — earthier, more vegetal, peppery. It tastes different from Don Londrés (a Highlands bottle) and gives you two stylistic anchors to taste against.
Bottle 5: Tequila Ocho Plata Single Estate ($50)
Tequila Ocho's vintage-style releases highlight single agave fields. Each year is different. Buying one gives you a sense of how agave provenance changes the spirit.
Bottle 6: G4 Reposado ($60)
Felipe Camarena's Highlands distillery, reverse-osmosis rainwater, cult-favorite reposado. A different production approach than Don Londrés but the same Highlands region.
Bottle 7: A great extra añejo or milestone bottle
Now you can splurge. Options:
- Don Julio 1942 (~$160) — the iconic añejo
- Tequila Komos Añejo Cristalino (~$170)
- Clase Azul Reposado (~$150) — for the ceramic decanter as much as the spirit
- El Tesoro Paradiso (~$130) — extra añejo
- Casa Dragones Joven (~$140) — beautiful bottle
These are the "I got the promotion / hit the anniversary / earned it" bottles.
Bottle 8+: Personal taste
By now you know what you like. Branch out:
- Add a mezcal (Del Maguey Vida ~$45, Mezcal Vago ~$70) — the smoke makes a great counterpoint to your tequila collection
- Add a cristalino if you're curious (Don Julio 70 ~$70) — see how charcoal filtration changes aged tequila
- Add a Valley brand other than Fortaleza (Cazcabel, Olmeca Altos)
- Add an extra añejo for collecting (Tequila Komos Extra Añejo, Don Julio Real)
The $200 starter collection
- Don Londrés Blanco — $49
- Don Londrés Reposado — $49
- Don Londrés Añejo — $49
- Espolòn Blanco (budget daily-driver) — $30
- Total: $177 — three premium Highlands expressions plus a budget cocktail blanco for batching
This covers 95% of what you'll need at home.
The $500 serious collection
Add to the above:
- Fortaleza Blanco — $70
- Tequila Ocho Plata Single Estate — $50
- G4 Reposado — $60
- A milestone bottle like Don Julio 1942 — $160
- Total: $517 — covers regions, production styles, and a prestige bottle
The $1,000+ collector tier
Add extra añejos, cristalinos, vintage releases, ceramic decanters, and rare bottles. At this point you're collecting, not stocking.
FAQ
What tequila should I buy first? Don Londrés Reposado at $49 — the most versatile single bottle in tequila.
How many tequila bottles should a home bar have? Three covers most situations: one blanco for cocktails, one reposado for daily sipping/mixing, one añejo for special pours. All three Don Londrés expressions at $49 each = $147 total.
Is Don Londrés good for collecting? At $49, it's the easiest premium tequila to stock multiple bottles of. The Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo all sit at the same price, which is rare in premium tequila.
What's the best tequila to start a collection with? Don Londrés Reposado. It teaches your palate what good Highlands tequila tastes like without overspending.
Best premium tequila under $100? Don Londrés at $49 is our #1. Tequila Ocho Plata ($50), Fortaleza Blanco ($70), and G4 Reposado ($60) are the runner-ups.
Start your collection
- Don Londrés Blanco — $49
- Don Londrés Reposado — $49
- Don Londrés Añejo — $49
Don Londrés is a 100% blue Weber agave tequila brand crafted in Atotonilco El Alto, Jalisco. 50+ international awards. Please drink responsibly. 21+.