Kendall Jenner’s highly anticipated 818 Tequila is finally available to buy in Australia, exclusively via Liquorland and First Choice.

The launch follows huge sales for the brand in the United Kingdom and United States.

818 Tequila was launched in the US in May 2021, where it reported sales of 136,000 cases in the first seven months of business. In 2022, it saw a 379% year-on-year increase, as sales grew from US$1,433,013 in 2021 to US$6,865,452 the following year.

Sales rose by 150% above predicted levels within 12 days of the brand launching in the UK.

There are four expressions available: 818 Tequila Blanco is an ultra-smooth blend with a bright and crisp citrus finish, with notes of almond, key lime pie, and toasted coconut from resting in oak barrels for three weeks; 818 Tequila Reposado has a smooth caramel finish, with bolder notes of cooked agave and pecan pie after ageing in a blend of oak barrels for three months; 818 Tequila Añejo has a deep and complex, and rich flavour profile, with notes of orange peel, chocolate, and toffee from ageing over a year in oak barrels; Eight Reserve is a blend of Añejos aged up to eight years in French and American barrels, it is bottled in a hand-crafted ceramic decanter.

818 Tequila harvests its agave plants at peak maturity (after six to seven years), before slow cooking each batch in traditional ovens for roughly 30 hours. Following traditional tahona wheel extraction, the spirit is naturally fermented before distillation inside alembic copper pot stills, and finally aged in American and French oak barrels.

Since launching, 818 Tequila has won over 43 tasting awards at 13 international spirits competitions, including Best Reposado at the World Tequila Awards.

Sustainability is also top of mind, from the agaves they grow, to the production and labelling of each bottle. 818’s distillery is run on biomass and solar power to reduce carbon emissions, their bottles are made with recycled glass, and their paper products are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Most recently, 818 was honoured to join the B Corporation™ community in March of 2023.

“We want to keep as classic a profile as possible, this was very important for our team, Kendall included,” said Director of Tequila Operations, David Yan Gonzalez.

“We’re celebrating the tradition of this centuries old industry and doing something really special for the heritage of Mexico. Tequila is such a huge part of our festivities and sharing our better moments as people, as family, as friends. 818 now offers the world that.

818 Tequila is being distributed in Australia by Amber Beverage. Head of Marketing Tanya Mah said: “We’re thrilled to be launching 818 Tequila in Australia. The demand for Tequila has been rapidly increasing and shows no signs of slowing, Kendall Jenner and the 818 team are incredible brand partners and have created a brand that drives category excitement and can recruit new drinkers into agave.”

Coles Liquor General Manager of Customer Loyalty Mia Lloyd said: “Our customers have been asking us for 818 Tequila, and now the wait is finally over. We’re thrilled to welcome 818 Tequila to our Liquorland and First Choice Liquor Market shelves and are proud to be the exclusive retailer for what is going to be the drink of the summer.”

Battle of the celebrity tequilas – The Rock outsells George Clooney

Ever since George Clooney launched Casamigos in 2013 … and sold it to Diageo for around $1 billion, the celebrity thirst for launching premium tequila brands has been unquenchable. And its proven to be a huge money spinner for the category.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson recently celebrated his Teremana Tequila out-selling Clooney’s Casamigos by 830,000 cases.

Since launching in 2020, The Rock’s Teremana tequila has sold well over two million 9L cases throughout North America and has broken records as one of the biggest debuts for a new-to-world brand in history.

“I’ll start off my statement with the most appropriate and grateful thing to say – thank you to the people. We launched Teremana three short years ago and today we celebrate the extraordinary record-breaking accomplishment of selling one million cases annually,” said Johnson.

“As we hit this rare milestone for an independent brand, I’m also very grateful for our partners’ and our team’s dedication to bringing our tequila to the people in the right way – by making tequila that honors the traditional methods. That’s the Teremana way. We have been overwhelmed by the tremendous response to Teremana, and owe our deep gratitude to our consumers who trusted our devotion to quality from day one.

“The exceptional taste and quality of Teremana has been recognized by 17 of the leading spirits awards, with highlights including gold in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2022, gold in The Spirits Business’ Tequila & Mezcal Masters 2022, and gold in the inaugural New Orleans Spirits Competition 2022.”

Johnson also posted the statistics on his Instagram page and said: “Our Teremana sales and growth compared to Casamigos is pretty staggering. Thank you all so much – my Mana Ohana- for trusting and enjoying our tequila. We have so much work ahead of us here in the US and globally as we internationalise our tequila brand.”

Why tequila is the spirit to watch in Australia