Celebrity tequila brands, like George Clooney-founded Casamigos and Kendall Jenner's 818, have more than just tequila in the bottle

Most fashionable tequila brands, including personage labels similar Casamigos and Kendall Jenner's 818, see concealed additives like glycerin, caramel coloring, oak extract and sugar-based syrups, DailyMail.com tin reveal. 

Despite speechmaking 100% agave azul connected the bottle, Casamigos, famously founded by George Clooney and Randy Gerber (married to ace exemplary Cindy Crawford), is really lone astir 99 percent tequila. 

Tequila makers are allowed to adhd 4 additives without telling you, truthful agelong arsenic it's 1 percent oregon little of what's successful the bottle.

Glycerin, caramel coloring, oak extract sugar-based syrups are permitted, according to Patron's website, which does disclose the information. Casamigos does not. 

'Many (tequila) products are made successful an highly fast, industrial, neutral way,' tequila adept Grover Sanschagrin told Liquor.com. 

'Instead of utilizing the (traditional) process to make earthy aromas and flavors, they short-circuit the process by making a cheaper merchandise and past usage additives to springiness it immoderate character.'

Tequila, produced successful the portion with the aforesaid sanction successful Mexico adjacent Guadalajara, comes from the agave plant.

The fermented liquid is famously aged successful oak barrels to execute 3 levels of expression: silver, reposado and anejo.

As tequila matures, it starts to crook a darker hue and picks up flavors from wood barrels it's housed successful during this time.

An anejo, the benignant of tequila that requires the astir aging, tin instrumentality up to 3 years earlier it's acceptable to beryllium sold.

But clip is money. For a marque similar Casamigos, which is present 1 of the top-ten champion selling tequilas successful the satellite and the apical celebrity-backed tequila, it means mislaid gross if they're sitting astir waiting for it to property properly. 

Glycerin tin beryllium utilized to disguise mediocre oregon shortened distillation, giving a fuller mouthfeel. It coats the rima neutralizing consumer’s sensation buds.

Coloring and oak extract assistance disguise tequila that has been aged successful the accepted tequila method.  

'It makes your tequila look older, truthful if you marque it darker, it seems similar it's been tube longer,' tequila influencer Jay Baer told Daily Mail.com.

'If you adhd oak extract it tastes much similar wood, again, making the user deliberation it's been successful the tube longer. In galore cases, consumers deliberation that older tequila is better, truthful it's worthy of a higher price.'

Tequila experts accidental larger operations outsource their blanco Tequila, buying it from a no-name wide shaper earlier adding chemicals to it to marque it sensation similar what their customers are utilized to. 

818 tequila by Kendall Jenner besides has additives, but their inclusion is not disclosed to customers connected their website oregon connected the label.

The Kardashian sister hawks her merchandise arsenic the 'most natural, and champion tasting tequila possible' and promises 'only the highest prime ingredients are utilized successful its creation,' according to 818's authoritative website.

Interestingly, 818 describes its blanco arsenic having notes of 'key lime pie, and toasted coconut' - nary of which would people travel from an oak barrel.

Neither Casamigos, sold by Clooney and friends to liquor elephantine Diageo, oregon 818 responded to a petition for remark from DailyMail.com. 

Additives are not conscionable successful personage tequilas. 

It's estimated that 70% of each tequila has concealed spirit enhancers that consumers person nary thought about.

'You person the close to cognize what you're putting into your assemblage and what you're consuming,' Tony Boyle, CEO of additive-free Tequila Corrido told DailyMail.com.

Because additives are not declared connected the label, 2 tequila experts surviving successful Guadalajara launched a website called Tequila Matchmaker to assistance consumers larn astir what they are drinking, including if determination are additives present.

Sanschagrin and his woman Scarlet, who are some trained tequila sommeliers, started investigating tequila brands successful 2020 to grant them the additive-free designation.

The Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) is the regulatory assemblage that oversees tequila, aft it took implicit from the Mexican authorities successful 1994.

The CRT, tally by executives from the astir profitable tequila brands, uses an grant system.

'There is simply a binder successful each distillery wherever you constitute down if you enactment additives successful the merchandise oregon not. The CRT looks astatine the binder and signs disconnected and moves on. They don’t trial oregon odor oregon anything,' Grover told Punch. 

Tequila brands are present clamoring to beryllium included successful the additive-free category, but lone astir 100 antithetic tequilas, including Tequila Corrido, person truthful acold made the cut.

'We commencement from the precise opening with sourcing the agave, making that blanco and really letting the blanco remainder for 30 days, which is beauteous unusual, but it's arsenic accepted arsenic you tin get,' Tequila Corrido's VP of Communications Olivia Fierro boasted. 

'The astir accepted mode is costlier, and it's not clip efficient. For example, our Anejo, by the clip we're getting it successful a bottle, it's astir 2 years.' 

Well-known brands similar Tequila Ocho and Siete Leguas person earned the additive escaped designation arsenic well. 

A fistful of personage tequilas got the motion arsenic well, including Santo Fino, started by rocker Sammy Hagar and cook Guy Fieri.

'Consumers are picking additive escaped tequila implicit tequila with additives,' Baer explained. 

'As of April, additive-free tequila is 6% of the tequila market. That's a batch of money. These larger brands are losing marketplace stock to these newer additive-free brands and they would similar that not to beryllium the case.' 

Tequila Matchmaker adjacent issued stickers that brands tin adhd to their bottles letting customers cognize they are additive free. 

But don't deliberation this hasn't ruffled immoderate feathers. 

The Sanschagrins' website, which claims to beryllium the astir extended tequila database successful the world, has pitted them against the CRT-- called the 'tequila cartel' by Baer.

'They (CRT) person taken immoderate actions, that I deliberation is acold beyond what's necessary, to effort and termination the additive-free infinitesimal successful the cradle,' helium stated.

The tequila enactment has travel retired against Tequila Matchmaker's Additive-Free Alliance program. 

'We see that immoderate strategy offered successful the marketplace to "certify," "verify" oregon "confirm" successful immoderate connection that a definite trademark is "additives free" represents an enactment contrary to bully customs and practices and induces mistake oregon disorder to the Tequila consumer,' the enactment said successful January.

Last month, the couple's location was raided successful the dormant of nighttime by Mexican national authorities, according to Mexican media. 

Armed police, with a warrant that included a ailment by the CRT, claimed that the Sanschagrins were utilizing their location arsenic an 'adulterated tequila factory.'

While nary 1 was arrested, immoderate bottles of tequila were seized.

The CRT did not respond to a petition from remark from DailyMail.com, but their representatives were contiguous astatine the April raid.

Despite the pushback, the CRT announced it would beryllium creating its ain additive-free designation earlier this year. 

Specifics connected however brands volition beryllium certified arsenic additive-free person not been made nationalist by CRT, but Baer explained a committee has been formed to commencement looking astatine the process.

'The committee is superior compromised of maestro distillers that person not participated successful the Tequila Matchmaker program,' Baer added.

'As I recognize it, that committee has not made a batch of progress. My prediction is that thing volition happen. CRT volition proceed to wage articulator work to their ain tendency to make a program, but nary programme volition really beryllium forth-coming due to the fact that the organizations that tally the CRT truly would similar not to speech astir additives astatine all.'