American billionaire Michael Jordan's Cincoro tequila launches $150 limited-edition Añejo Reserva

Cincoro Tequila, the luxury tequila brand co-founded by American billionaire Michael Jordan, has launched a limited-edition Añejo Reserva for the holiday season, priced at $149.99 a bottle.

The new expression went on sale on Nov. 4 online and at selected retailers, including Total Wine & More and Binny's, as well as at a number of high-end restaurants and cocktail bars, the company said in a statement from New York. It comes in a 750-milliliter white-and-gold bottle with a matching gift box carrying an agave design.

The Añejo Reserva is made from Blue Weber agave grown in both the highlands and lowlands of Jalisco, the Mexican state at the heart of tequila production. The tequila is aged for 28 months in Tennessee whiskey barrels and then blended with Cincoro's Extra Añejo, the brand's oldest expression. The company describes the result as having notes of toasted oak, baking spices, cooked agave and dark chocolate.

"We set out to create something special with Añejo Reserva, and I'm really proud of the result," Jordan said. "It's smooth and delicious, and I'm excited to share it with friends and family this holiday season."

Emilia Fazzalari, Cincoro's co-founder and chief executive, said the extended aging and blending process gave the new tequila a more complex flavor than the rest of the range. "Michael Jordan and I personally taste every batch before bottling to ensure each expression meets the high standards of quality and craftsmanship we've set for Cincoro," she said.

Five NBA owners and a tequila

Cincoro traces its origins to a dinner in July 2016, when five people from the ownership ranks of rival NBA teams discovered a shared interest in tequila. Jordan, then the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, was joined by Jeanie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers, Wes Edens of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Wyc Grousbeck and Fazzalari, who were then part of the ownership of the Boston Celtics. The group launched Cincoro in 2019. The name combines "cinco," Spanish for five, with "oro," or gold.

The brand sells a range that runs from Blanco and Reposado to Añejo and Extra Añejo, using agave from private farms in Jalisco that is slow-cooked in small batches. Cincoro says it has won more than 36 awards at spirits competitions since its launch.

The Añejo Reserva enters a crowded field of celebrity-backed tequilas that has grown quickly over the past decade as American drinkers have moved toward premium spirits. George Clooney and his partners sold Casamigos to Diageo Plc in 2017 in a deal worth up to $1 billion, and a wave of athletes, actors and musicians have since launched their own brands.

Jordan, 63, built most of his fortune after his playing career. His long partnership with Nike Inc. on the Air Jordan brand pays him royalties that run into hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and he sold his majority stake in the Hornets in 2023 in a deal that valued the team at $3 billion. He also co-owns the NASCAR team 23XI Racing. Forbes estimates his net worth at $4.3 billion.