21 Best Tequilas and Mezcals, According to Oscars of Booze

What tequila should you drink this year? Maybe you should consult with the Oscars of booze.

Started in 2000, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) is the longest-running spirits competition in North America and the largest of its kind anywhere. Judges award Bronze, Silver and Gold medals through a multi-day blind tasting process — with the coveted Double Gold referring to entries that receive a Gold medal rating by all members of the judging panel.

On the final day of the competition, select Double Gold spirits advance to the Sweepstakes round. Here, the judges deliberate to determine the Best of Class and Best in Show Premium Award winners.

For the agave spirits categories this year, there were 111 blanco, 91 reposado, 69 añejo, 31 extra añejo, 20 flavored and 102 mezcal entries. Below are the exceptional bottles that are the best in their respective categories and finalists for the Best in Class awards, which will be announced in June.

So, as you prep for Cinco de Mayo — and general agave spirits drinking in general — consider one of these finalists for your home bar. You may recognize a few names (Montelobos, Don Julio), and a couple of celebrity tequila brands (Cincoro, Lobos 1707) made the list as well. If you haven’t heard of others, that’s because a few of these are so obscure — there are only 1,111 bottles of that Etéreo Extra Añejo in existence — that you may, unfortunately, never be able to try them at all — that said, the finalists are shoppable on ReserveBar.com, which is the official e-commerce site for this competition and all Tasting Alliance award programs.