In case it’s not clear enough, tequila is no side hobby for Michael Jordan and his business partners. Five years into its launch, Cincoro is on the rise as one of the best celebrity-owned spirit brands. But never has MJ – or the Cincoro partners who own winning NBA teams – slacked off. They aren’t going to branch out of tequila but have a strategy for the long run. One that should make Cincoro the go-to bottle within the tequila market. Celtics first lady and one of the founders of Cincoro, Emilia Fazzalari, explained Cincoro’s future strategy after their fifth anniversary.

Speaking on Bloomberg Businessweek, Emilia Fazzalari spoke about Cincoro’s newest launch – a holiday edition of the Añejo Cristalino. The brand has a product line of five premium offerings. But the Cristalino is set to be the crown jewel for Cincoro’s strategic growth.

“This Cristalino is… really actually a super hot category for tequila right now,” Fazzalari said. “They’re saying that the category will be about six percent of the tequila market by 2028, and it’s a really key driver of Premiumization.”

Experts in the spirits business predict that the tequila market will be worth $30.06 billion in 2028. Going by Fazzalari’s estimates, the Cristalino subcategory would be worth $1.8 billion of that. Industry experts estimate it could be higher as a Cristalino is in demand among millennial customers. It also offers a more sophisticated option in cocktail culture.

In a market crowded with celebrity tequilas like LeBron James Lobos 1707 and Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana, a single category product will be key for any brand’s growth. Premiumization, i.e., marketing to niche spirits enthusiasts with a taste for it, would be the key to dominating this category, as per experts. And Fazzalari outlines that Cincoro is working on that.

Michael Jordan’s Cincoro is pushing its star product

After the idea was conceived among certain NBA team owners in 2016, Cincoro launched in 2019. Michael Jordan spearheaded a long and intensive process to develop the right blend – Fazzalari says they tested a thousand blends – before the official launch.

In 2024, Cincoro added more partners like Derek Jeter and Serena Williams to the ownership group. It’s also five years since its launch. At the anniversary celebration in New York, Cincoro unveiled the Cristalino’s holiday edition in an equally stunning bottle design. The Cristalino also featured in multiple cocktails served at this party.

A Cristalino is aged Anejo tequila that undergoes a specific filtering process to produce a clear product. Cincoro, like a standard Cristalino creation process, makes its star product with a charcoal filter process.

“We just had our five year anniversary party where we celebrated the launch of Cristalino and people tasted it for the first time and absolutely loved it. So definitely try to find a bottle because they’re going to run out,” Fazzalari said like the true marketer she is. It’s a clear sign of where Cincoro is heading to in the next four years. And His Airness is looking at absolute domination in the market.