You’ve probably seen the bottle. It’s short, stubby, and made of that distinctively thick, bubbly green glass that looks like it was plucked straight from a 19th-century shipwreck. In a sea of slender, gold-foiled tequila bottles designed to look like high-end perfume, La Gritona Reposado Tequila stands out by looking like it doesn't care if you buy it or not.
But people are buying it. A lot of it.
Honestly, the tequila world is currently obsessed with "additives." If you spend any time on tequila forums or talking to nerdy bartenders, you’ll hear them rail against diffusers, autoclaves, and the vanilla-scented syrups often pumped into "premium" brands to make them taste like cake batter. La Gritona is the antithesis of that entire movement. It’s lean. It’s vegetal. It’s slightly aggressive in the best way possible.
The Woman Behind the Spirit
Most tequila brands are owned by massive multinational conglomerates or celebrities looking for a quick exit strategy. La Gritona is different. It is distilled by Melly Barajas Cárdenas at her distillery, Vinos y Licores Azteca, located in Valle de Guadalupe, Jalisco.
Melly is one of the few female master distillers in a region that has historically been a bit of a boys' club. She doesn't just run the show; she employs an almost entirely female staff to handle everything from the cooking of the agave to the bottling. This isn't just a marketing gimmick for the back of the label. It’s a deliberate operational choice that has shaped the culture of the distillery for over twenty years.
The agave used here is strictly Highland (Los Altos) agave. Why does that matter? Agave grown in the Highlands tends to be larger and slower to mature, soaking up the mineral-rich red clay soil. This usually results in a spirit that is naturally sweeter and more floral than its Lowland counterparts.
Forget Everything You Know About "Smooth"
We need to talk about the word "smooth." In the spirits marketing world, smooth usually just means "filtered until it tastes like nothing" or "loaded with glycerin."
La Gritona Reposado Tequila isn't trying to be smooth. It’s trying to be honest.
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Because it’s a Reposado, it has to be aged in oak for at least two months. Melly ages this specific expression for eight months. However, unlike many brands that use brand-new charred American oak to impart heavy notes of caramel and toasted marshmallow, La Gritona uses reused American whiskey barrels (often sourced from Balcones or Dickel).
These barrels are "tired." They’ve already given up their most aggressive tannins to the whiskey they held previously. This allows the tequila to rest without being suffocated by wood.
What you get is a pale, straw-colored liquid that still tastes like agave. You’ll catch a hit of black pepper. There’s a distinct "green" note—think bell pepper or freshly cut grass—that cuts through the slight sweetness of the cooked agave. It’s crisp.
It’s the kind of tequila that makes you realize most other reposados are trying too hard to taste like bourbon.
The Sustainability of the Stubby Bottle
That green bottle isn't just an aesthetic choice. It’s 100% recycled glass.
Every bottle is hand-blown at a glass factory in Tlaquepaque, which is why you’ll see tiny bubbles trapped in the glass and slight variations in the thickness of the rim. Because they are hand-blown, no two are exactly alike.
There is a practical benefit to this weird shape, too. It’s remarkably easy to grab off a back bar during a rush. It fits in the hand perfectly. For home enthusiasts, once the tequila is gone (which happens faster than you'd expect), the bottles are famously repurposed as flower vases, water carafes, or soap dispensers.
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Why the NOM 1533 Matters
If you look at the tiny numbers on a tequila label, you’ll see the NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana). This is the distillery identifier. La Gritona’s is NOM 1533.
Searching for a NOM is the easiest way to tell if a brand is a "contract brand." Many celebrities just go to a massive factory that produces 50 different brands and pick a flavor profile from a spreadsheet. When you see NOM 1533, you are getting something made specifically at Melly’s facility.
- The Cook: They use traditional brick ovens (hornos). No high-pressure autoclaves that strip the agave of its soul. It takes about 24 hours to cook the piñas and another day for them to cool down.
- The Extraction: They use a steel shredder.
- The Fermentation: It's natural. No accelerated yeast strains. They let the local environment dictate the pace.
- The Distillation: Twice distilled in copper pot stills.
The Price vs. Value Paradox
In 2026, the price of agave has fluctuated wildly, and "prestige" tequila prices have gone through the roof. You’ll see bottles of "Cristalino" (reposado or añejo that has been filtered with charcoal to look clear) selling for $80 or $100.
La Gritona usually sits in the $45 to $55 range.
For a spirit that is additive-free, female-owned, and estate-bottled, that is a steal. It occupies this perfect middle ground where it’s affordable enough for a high-end Margarita but complex enough to sip neat with a slice of orange and some sal de gusano.
Some people find the finish a bit short. They want that lingering, oily coat that stays on the tongue for five minutes. La Gritona doesn't do that. It finishes clean and dry. It’s a "snappy" tequila.
How to Actually Drink It
Look, drink it however you want. But if you want to respect the liquid, stop putting it in a plastic shot glass with a lick of salt and a bruised lime.
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Try it in a Batanga. It’s a simple Mexican classic: La Gritona, Mexican Coke, a squeeze of fresh lime, and a pinch of salt, stirred with a knife (tradition dictates it must be the knife you used to cut the lime). The vegetal notes of the tequila slice right through the sugar of the cola.
If you are a purist, use a Riedel tequila glass or even a small wine glass. Give it a swirl. Let it breathe for a minute. You’ll smell the earth of the Highlands before you ever take a sip.
Realities of the Brand
It is important to acknowledge that because La Gritona is a smaller operation, batches can vary slightly. This is the nature of artisanal spirits. One batch might be a little more peppery, while the next leans into the cooked yam sweetness.
Also, it can be hard to find. It isn't in every grocery store in the Midwest yet. It relies on a "pull" strategy—people ask for it at their local liquor store until the distributor finally brings it in.
Making the Choice
If you like tequilas like Fortaleza, G4, or Siete Leguas, you are going to love La Gritona. It shares that same DNA of "agave-forward" production.
If you are used to the heavy vanilla and cake-batter flavors of brands like Casamigos or Clase Azul, this might be a shock to your system. It will taste "earthy" or "raw" to you. That's okay. It’s supposed to. It’s the difference between eating a piece of processed candy and a piece of fruit.
Next Steps for the Tequila Curious:
- Check the NOM: Next time you're at the store, look for NOM 1533 on the back of the bottle to ensure you're getting the real deal from Melly's distillery.
- Taste it Blind: If you really want to see how much "stuff" is in your favorite tequila, pour a glass of La Gritona next to a mass-market brand. Notice the color. La Gritona will be much lighter because it doesn't use caramel coloring (caramelo).
- Save the Bottle: Don't throw the glass away. It’s one of the few bottles in the spirits world that actually looks better without the label on your kitchen counter.
- Visit the Highlands: If you ever find yourself in Jalisco, skip the town of Tequila for a day and head to the Highlands. The altitude and the red soil change the way you perceive the spirit entirely.
La Gritona translates roughly to "The Screamer." It’s a bold name for a tequila that is actually quite nuanced. It doesn't need to scream to get your attention; it just needs to be in your glass.