Kendall Jenner’s tequila label 818 Tequila is finally landing in the country! The tequila which is named after the area code of the supermodel's Calabasas home, was launched in 2021 and the brand had sold over 130,000 cases in just seven months. 818 Tequila will be distributed by the esteemed Berry Beverages in India and imported by both Berry Beverages and Zoup Beverages.
The tequila has four styles, blanco, reposado, añejo and 818 Reserve which is a blend of Añejo and Extra Añejo tequila aged up to 8 years. The brand has won quite a few titles at the World Tequila Awards, the SIP Awards, the MacroLiquor Spirit Awards, and the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, where the brand’s añejo was awarded the Chairman’s Trophy. One of the USPs of the brand is its commitment to the environment. The brand’s distillery runs entirely on biomass and solar power, which reduce the use of fossil fuels and cut back on energy output.
The brand uses matured agaves produced in the Los Valles region of tequila and these agaves are then slow-cooked traditional twenty-ton ovens for 30 hours at 96-degree Celsius, following which they are crushed under the weight of motorized stone Tahona wheels. These wheels are used to extract and collect tequila mosto by crushing cooked agaves, a technique that has been around for centuries and is the most traditional method.
Each wheel weighs 900 kilograms and enables the best juice extraction and collection. The volcanic stone of the Tahona Wheel also adds distinct mineral accents to our tequila expressions.
The agaves undergo a 48-hour fermentation process before dancing through alembic copper pot stills and are distilled twice for purity, and aged in French and American oak barrels. Though 818 has been received well by most experts, it only ranked 60th on the ‘Best Celebrity Spirits’ by Esquire.
The tequila will be available in Delhi NCR shortly and is priced at Rs 7170