McConaughey’s organic Pantalones tequila range toasts Mexican Independence Day in UK stores

Drinkers in the UK marking Mexican Independence Day this September might be looking to explore some top-quality tequila for the occasion, and Pantalones, the spirits brand founded by Camila Alves McConaughey and her husband, the actor Matthew McConaughey, have three organic bottles to choose from. Stocked by Waitrose, Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange, there’s a blanco (a white, unaged variety), a reposado (medium-aged in oak barrels) and an añejo (richly oak-matured in smaller batches for at least a year and up to three), each made from 100% organic agave. 

The first in the range is Pantalones Organic Tequila Blanco, priced from £40 and available at Waitrose and Master of Malt. Produced from Blue Weber agave, the unaged spirit is described by the brand as carrying the sweetness of the cooked plant, with flashes of honey and a hint of citrus.

The Pantalones Organic Tequila Reposado, from £49.50 at The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt, is aged for nine months in American oak whisky barrels. The producers explain the maturation period is longer than many other reposado tequilas, with the result producing a flavour suggestive of cooked agave, vanilla and oak. Under Mexican regulations, a reposado must be rested in oak for between two months and a year, meaning the nine-month period sits towards the upper end of the scale.

The third expression, Pantalones Organic Tequila Añejo, is priced from £53.95 at Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange. It spends 15 months in American oak whisky barrels, and emerges with notes of vanilla, butterscotch and brown sugar with a “well-worn velvety finish”. 

Alongside the bottles, the team suggests a recipe for a margarita using their blanco. It calls for 50ml of Pantalones Tequila Blanco, 30ml of organic lime juice, agave nectar and an organic lime wheel to garnish. Cocktail-makers should rim a rocks glass with a lime wedge before dipping it in salt, then combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake until well chilled, before straining the mixture over ice.

Pantalones was launched by the McConaughey family in 2023 and is produced in Mexico. The brand’s tequilas are certified organic – a designation that requires agave to be grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers – and its arrival in British retail follows a surge of popularity for tequila and wider expansion of celebrity-associated producers into the UK market over recent years.

Mexican Independence Day, or El Grito de Independencia, is observed annually on 16^th September, and commemorates the beginning of the country’s war of independence from Spain in 1810. ¡Viva México!

Food Desk

The Pantalones range is available in the UK at Waitrose, Master of Malt and Whiskey Exchange. For further information, visit the brand’s website here.