What Makes Cutwater Tequila Blanco Stand Out From Its Competitors

While you're likely familiar with Cutwater's canned cocktails — it is, after all, the number one spirits-based ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail on the market in 2025 — but you may be less familiar with the San Diego-based company's tequilas. In 2019, Cutwater began releasing its line of tequilas, starting with its blanco. Cutwater's reposado, añejo, and extra añejo soon followed, and since that time, they've racked up a lot of awards. The blanco alone has earned over 30, including double gold at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2025. 

According to Yuseff Cherney, Cutwater's Co-Founder and Master Distiller, the company works hand-in-hand with Destilería Orendain, a storied distillery with a nearly 100-year history and its own line of award-winning tequilas that are perfect for margaritas. Don Eduardo Orendain González founded the distillery in 1926 in the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, one of the specific regions where the spirit must be made to call itself tequila. There, they produce Cutwater's tequila from 100% blue Weber agave, using brick ovens to slow roast the agave hearts. After this, the cooked agave juice is open fermented and then double distilled in alambique stainless steel and copper pot stills of Cutwater's design. "By following this century-old traditional method, we're able to pull out even more agave flavor, contributing to the delicious, award-winning spirits in our portfolio," Cherney told Chowhound in an exclusive conversation. 

Yuseff Cherney started out as the head brewer of San Diego's legendary Ballast Point Brewing Company when he and founder Jack White began making canned cocktails, a business that did so well they eventually split it off from Ballast Point. Meanwhile, Cherney was also leading the University of California, San Diego Crafts Center's Brewing Certificate Program. One of his students, Joaquin Lopez Orendain, invited Cherney to visit his family's distillery and from there a long-term relationship between Cutwater and Destilería Orendain was born.

Cherney spent nearly two years going back and forth between California and Mexico to do research on the tequila industry. This would eventually influence the taste profile of Cutwater Blanco Tequila, which is distinctive from the Orendain distillery's products. "Visiting various distilleries and taking in the nuances of production led me to develop Cutwater's own taste and profile that was essentially a hybrid of all my favorites," Cherney said. Cutwater's Blanco has notes of baked agave and peppers with a lingering finish. The Blanco is the base in several of the brand's canned cocktails, including the Lime Margarita, which we've ranked at the top of Cutwater's canned offerings. If you're a fan of Cutwater's tequila-based RTD cocktails, be sure to try the brand's blanco tequila that helps make them so special.