Reshaping the Canadian Tequila Market

Aguamiel Tequila is a new brand of premium tequila that was recently launched in Ontario and British Columbia, with store shelves instantly selling out of the smooth-flavored liquor in the first week it was released.

To get a deeper understanding of how Aguamiel differs from other brands on the market, how the brand’s use of social media has positively impacted it, and what’s to come, Trend Hunter spoke with Co-Founder Craig Shaw.

What sets Aguamiel apart from other tequilas that are currently available on the market?

Aguamiel sets itself apart from other premium tequila in a lot of ways. Of course our bottle, our branding, and our business strategies are different from a lot of other spirit companies. But, most importantly, what sets us apart is our taste and quality. Every time someone new tastes Aguamiel they can't believe how smooth and flavorful it is.

It took us almost 2 years to develop the juice and recipe in Mexico and we couldn't be happier with what we have created. To confirm that we weren't biased, we even had private tastings with connoisseurs and first time tequila drinkers throughout Canada. At these tastings, we put Aguamiel in a blind taste test against other major tequila brands and we were the chosen as the favorite every time.

How has the consumer response to Aguamiel been so far?

We only launched about 2 weeks ago, but in the first 5 days of our launch we were sold out every day. Since then, we are still continuously selling bottles and cases every day. We are very happy with the response so far and thankful for the interest in our brand.

What impact have social influencers had on Aguamiel’s success? Do you have plans to continue with these collaborations in the future?

We launched a influencer campaign alongside our LCBO launch and it was very successful! We feel that we were able to connect with a lot of people and have great content created. We also got great feedback from our influencers, who said that they all enjoyed the product!

I really believe in the benefits of influencer campaigns, social media has a huge impact on shaping today's culture and we definitely have plans to continue collaborating with the influencer community in the future.

What’s the best way to consume Aguamiel? Are there any specific cocktails that you particularly enjoy it in?

Personally, I love Aguamiel and soda with a lime. In our influencer campaign, we gifted Aguamiel with grapefruit juices from Village Juicery, which paired beautifully! We are working on creating more cocktails with exotic juices, including watermelon and pineapple, so stay tuned throughout the summer.

Aguamiel is already available in Ontario and BC but do you have plans to further expand?

Of course, we are planning to expand throughout Canada, and eventually expand in the US and internationally! This is just the beginning.