NOM 1139 is Destilería La Alteña in Arandas, Jalisco. Three brands come out of it, and the distillery has one of the longest clean reputations in tequila.
NOM 1139 at a glance
| NOM | 1139 |
|---|---|
| Distillery | Destilería La Alteña |
| Location | Arandas, Jalisco |
| Brands recorded | Tapatío · El Tesoro · Villa Lobos |
| Bottles in our reference sheet | 6 |
Bottles made at NOM 1139
| Brand | Expression | Type | ABV | 100% agave? | Additive-free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapatío | Blanco | blanco | — | yes | ✓ pre-2024-10 |
| Tapatío | 110 Blanco | blanco | 55% | yes | ✓ pre-2024-10 |
| El Tesoro | Blanco | blanco | — | yes | — |
| El Tesoro | Reposado | reposado | — | yes | — |
| El Tesoro | Añejo | añejo | — | yes | — |
| Villa Lobos | Reposado | reposado | — | yes | — |
“Additive-free” records an inspection carried out before October 2024, when the public verified list was withdrawn. It is a historical record, not a check you can repeat today — here is why. A dash means no inspection was ever published, which is not an accusation.
Why this NOM matters more than its shelf presence
La Alteña is not a household name, and its bottles are harder to find than anything in the supermarket. It is also the distillery behind Tapatío 110, bottled at 55% ABV — the ceiling of what NOM-006-SCFI permits and the strongest tequila recorded in our reference sheet.
That is not a stunt. Bottling close to still strength means showing the spirit with less water and less correction, and distilleries that do it tend to be the ones with nothing to smooth over. Tapatío was independently inspected and found additive-free while that programme still published — see what happened to additive-free verification for why that is written as a date rather than a current claim.
The family behind it
La Alteña was opened in 1937 by Felipe Camarena Sr., and it is the second distillery this family built. The first belonged to his father, Don Pedro Camarena, who brought blue Weber agave into the highlands in the 1800s — and the Revolution destroyed it in 1910.
The line did not stop here either. His grandson, also Felipe Camarena, worked at La Alteña until 2007, then left and built El Pandillo at NOM 1579, where he makes G4 with his own sons. The G4 on that label means generation four.
So two separate four-digit numbers in this directory, seventy-four years apart, belong to one continuous family. Nothing on either bottle says so, and no brand-level lookup connects them. That is what the NOM record is for.
Where to start
If you have only ever had supermarket tequila, a blanco from this NOM is the fastest way to understand what the category can be. Our blanco guide covers what to expect.
Where to buy
Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, this site earns a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what is said about any bottle. Full disclosure.
| Brand | Expression | Type | ABV | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tapatío | Blanco 110 Proof | blanco | 55% | Check price |
| Tapatío | Blanco | blanco | — | Check price |
| Tapatío | Reposado | reposado | — | Check price |
| El Tesoro | Blanco | blanco | — | Check price |
| El Tesoro | Reposado | reposado | — | Check price |
| El Tesoro | Añejo | añejo | — | Check price |
Two months in oak costs one dollar
At the retailer these links point to, El Tesoro Blanco and El Tesoro Reposado are priced a dollar apart. Same distillery, same agave, same stills. The only difference between the two bottles is time in American oak — and at retail that time is worth about a dollar.
Hold that against the rest of the shelf. el Jimador Reposado sits on the legal two-month minimum, and so does my Gran Centenario Azul at several times the price. The word reposado on a label is not a price, a quality or a promise — it is a legal window, and a wide one.
Tapatío Blanco 110 is the other end of the range. 110 proof is 55% alcohol, the legal ceiling for tequila, from the same family distillery. Where every bottle on my shelf sits between 35% and 55%.
NOM 1139: common questions
Which tequila brands are made at NOM 1139?
Tapatío, El Tesoro and Villa Lobos. We currently have 6 bottles from this distillery recorded, listed in the table above.
Is everything from NOM 1139 100% agave?
Every bottle we have recorded from this distillery — Tapatío, El Tesoro, Villa Lobos — is 100% agave.
Where is NOM 1139?
Destilería La Alteña, in Arandas, Jalisco.
Is NOM 1139 additive-free?
Tapatío was inspected and found additive-free before the public verified list was withdrawn in October 2024. That is a record of a past inspection, not a certification you can check today — the programme no longer publishes.
Related
- The full NOM directory — every distillery recorded so far
- What the NOM number means
- How to read a tequila label
- Additive-free tequila: the verified list is gone
- The five types of tequila
- NOM 1474, Los Alambiques — Tequila Ocho, the other Camarena distillery in Arandas