It's nothing without NOM

NOM on the label stands for Normas Oficial Mexicana - the official Mexican government regulations - usually referred to simply as the NORMAS. The NOM identifier means the tequila meets government standards - but it's not any guarantee of quality. However, without the NOM stamp of legitimacy, you can't even be sure it's tequila in the bottle.

 

NOMs, or normas, are compulsory standards to which tequila producers must adhere. They are federal laws overseen by federal regulating agencies - in the case of tequila, the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT).

 

All 100% agave tequilas must have a NOM identifier on the bottle. The important laws since 1990 were NOM-006-SCFI-1993 and the later update NOM-006-SCFI-1994 and the most recent revision in late 2005, NOM-006-SCFI-2005. The full text of the latest NOM is on the laws page.

 

The number after NOM is the distillery number, assigned by the government. Look closely and you'll see a lot of apparently competing brands have the same NOM number. That's because they're all produced at the same distillery, regardless of any real or invented history or legend behind them. In fact, there are only about 110 licensed tequila producers in all of Mexico - and they make about 1,000 different brands. Only one of these companies does not have a license to make 100% agave tequilas.

 

NOM does not indicate the location of the distillery, merely the parent company or - in the case where a company leases space in a plant - the physical plant where the tequila was manufactured. The location may also be listed on the label, but it may also be the address of the parent firm, not the actual fabrica. However, a growing number of brands -including Porfidio, 1921, Voodoo Tiki, and Patron - do not have their own distillery, but instead purchase what they consider the best tequila from other manufacturers and put their own labels on the bottles. Sometimes these companies will change their distiller, so the NOM identifier on their label will change.

 

Some of these plants may not even produce a 'house' brand. Tequila Mascarillo, for example, made product for several companies, but only recently started to produce their own brand-name product.

 

Before 1978, the term on the label was DGN (Direccion General de Normas) but since the NOM was founded, DGN isn't used any more, although it may appear on some mixto tequilas bottled in the USA. All Mexican-bottled tequilas must say Hecho en Mexico on them.

 

Some tequilas are bottled outside Mexico using bulk Mexican mixto tequila as a base. These bottles may not show a NOM identifier, but if they do it means the source of the bulk product, not the bottler. These bulk brands are not always governed by the strict Mexican laws, although the USA recently signed an agreement with Mexico to control the adulteration of bulk tequila by US bottlers. But without the CRT's immediate oversight, it is possible mixto tequila bottled outside Mexico could be adulterated with other non-agave, non-tequila ingredients. To counter adulteration and counterfeiting, the CRT has set up offices in Washington, DC (for the US and Canada) and in Europe to cover the EU.

 

Tequila bottled outside Mexico will never be 100% agave: it will always be a mixto. Tequilas bottled in Mexico all have a small identifier showing 'envasado de origen."

A more recent term added to the label is DOT - Denomination of Origin, Tequila. But many labels still lack this stamp.

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NOM/DOT - Distillery or Producer's Name

(as of April 2007)

1068 (116) Agroindustrias Guadalajara
1079 (188) Agave Tequilana Prod y Com.

1102 (88) Tequila Sauza
1103 (93) Tequila San Matias de Jalisco
1104 (81) Tequila Cuervo La Rojena (also 1122)
1105 (125) Tequila Catador Alteño
1107 (94) Tequila El Viejito
1108 (87) Jorge Salles Cuervo y Sucesores
1109 (98) Destiladora Azteca de Jalisco
1110 (95) Tequila Orendain de Jalisco (also 1172)
1111 (83) Pernod Ricard Mexico (Viuda de Romero)
1112 (112) Tequila Santa Fe
1113 (109) Tequila Eucario Gonzalez (export only)
1115 (105) Tequila La Parreñita
1119 (89) Tequila Herradura
1120 (104) Tequila Siete Leguas
1122 (113) Casa Cuervo (also 1104)
1123 (106) Tequila Cascahuin
1124 (97) Tequilas del Senor
1127 (110) Tequilera la Gonzaleña
1137 (111) La Cofradia
1139 (101) Tequila Tapatio
1140 (86) Tequila Centinela
1142 (82) La Madrileña
1143 (93) Destiladora Gonzalez Gonzalez
1146 (102) Tequileña
1173 (155) Tequilera Newton e Hijos

1298 (137) Tequila Sierra Brava

1333 (124) Fabrica de Aguardientes de Agave La Mexicana
1360 (126) Corporacion Ansan
1368 (127) Tequilera Corralejo
1384 (131) Agroindustrias Santa Clara RL

1412 (185) Destiladora de Los Altos
1413 (128) Compañía Destiladora de Acatlán & Tequila
1414 (129) Feliciano Vivanco y Asociados
1416 (138) Productos Finos de Agave
1417 (133) Industrializadora Integral del Agave
1419 (139) Metlalli
1420 (134) Industrializadora de Agave San Isidro
1422 (135) José Ascención Sandoval Villegas
1424 (140) Destiladora de Agave Azul
1426 (141) Agaveros Unidos de Amatitán
1427 (142) Jorge Michel Padilla
1429 (143) J.D.C. (Seagram, export only)
1430 (146) Ruth Ledesma Macias
1431 ((144) Destiladora los Magos
1433 (148) Tequila Quiote
1434 (147) Procesadora de Agave Penjamo
1435 (150) Destiladora la Barraanca
1436 (156) Tequila Artesanal de Los Altos de Jalisco
1437 (160) Tequilera Don Roberto
1438 (152) Destiladora del Valle de Tequila
1439 (153) Proveedora y Procesadora de Agave Tres Hermanos
1440 (151) Destiladora San Nicolas
1442 (155) Tequilera del Salto
1443 (154) Grupo Industrial Tequilero de los Altos de Jalisco
1444 (159) Maria Luisa Jimenez Gomez
1445 (158) Productores de Agave
1446 (162) Casa el Andariego
1447 (168) Distribuidora del Cabrito
1448 (164) Agroindustrias Amatitán
1449 (163) Tequila Don Julio
1450 (165) Marco Antonio Jauregui Huerta
1451 (166) Destilerias Unidas
1452 (167) Destileria San Jose de Gracia
1454 (170) David Partida Zuñaga
1455 (174) Fabrica de Tequila el Nacimiento
1456 (171) Tequila Supremo
1457 (172) Tequilera la Quemada
1458 (176) Tequilera La Primavera
1459 (173) Tequila Selecto de Amatitan
1460 (175) Compañia Tequilera de Arandas /Tequilera Rustica de Arandas
1463 (177) Cooperativa Tequilera La Magdalena
1464 (188) Destileria 501
1465 (180) Fabrica de Tequila El Eden
1466 (192) Tequilera Tres Mujeres
1467 (181) Impulsora Rombo
1468 (182) Grupo Tequilero Mexico
1469 (183) Destiladora Santa Cruz
1470 (184) Tequila Arriero
1471 (186) Grupo Internacional de Exportacion
1472 (187) Fabrica de Tiquilas Finos
1473 (160) Tequilera la Barranca de Amatitan
1474 (189) Cia Tequilera Los Alambiques
1475 (191) Fabrica de Tequila hacienda Las Norias
1476 (193) Destiladora Rubio
1477 (194) Letiica Hermosillo Ravelero
1479 (195) Hacienda La Capilla
1480 ((204) Tequila Las Americas
1481 (198) Destiladora de Jalisco
1482 (199) Fabrica de Tequila Tlaquepaque
1483 (200) Tequila Jornalero
1484 (202) Tequila de Don Jesus (see 1423, below)
1485 (201) Prestadora Integral de Servicios par la Industria de Occidente
1486 (203) Tequilera Los Generales
1487 (103) Tequila Cazadores de Arandas (1128)
1488 (205) Cavas Vamer
1489 (205) Destiliados Leyros
1490 (206) Destiladora Arandas
1492 (207) C.D.C.
1494 (209) Tequilera La Noria
1495 (210) Tequila Las Siete Marcas
1498 (213) Tequilera La Perla
1499 (215) Casa Tequilera de Arandas

1500 (216) Tequilera Las Juntas
1501 (DOT?) Tequilera El Triangulo
1503 (117) Empressa Ejidal tequilera de Amititan
1505 (218) Productores de Tequil de Arandas
1506 (221) Premium Tequilas
1508 (222) Fabrica de Tequila Don Nacho
1510 (225) Destiladora Casa Blana Vazquez
1511 (230) Cia Tequilera Hacienda Sahuayo
1514 (226) Productores de Agave Derivados del Degollado

Pending removal or removed from list since 2001:
740, 856, 1114, 1117, 1118, 1121, 1128, 1131, 1141, 1154, 1196, 1235, 1258, 1395, 1418, 1423 (now 1484), 1432, 1441, 1497, 1498.

 

 

Sources:

• Tequila Regulatory Council
• Academia Mexicana del Tequila

 

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