Cadillac Margarita

The premium margarita — reposado tequila shaken with Grand Marnier and fresh lime juice, finished with a Grand Marnier float and salted rim for a rich, citrusy upgrade on the classic.

The Cadillac Margarita takes its name from the American expression for a luxury upgrade — a margarita made with top-shelf ingredients rather than standard well spirits. Origins are disputed, with some accounts tracing the drink to the Cadillac Bar in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, while others credit El Torito, a Southern California restaurant chain where founder Larry Cano is said to have developed a premium margarita in the mid-1980s. PUNCH Magazine documented El Torito's 1985 campaign promoting a high-end margarita served alongside a float of Grand Marnier, and the first published recipe attributing the name to that El Torito location appeared in the Montreal Gazette in 1987. What defines a Cadillac Margarita today is the use of premium reposado or añejo tequila in place of blanco, and Grand Marnier — a cognac-based orange liqueur — in place of standard triple sec. The cognac base in Grand Marnier adds vanilla, oak, and caramelized orange notes that distinguish the drink from a classic margarita.