CONNECTING THROUGH MUTUAL PASSION FOR HERITAGE, HARD WORK, AND JALISCO SPIRITS, HOLLYWOOD LEADING MAN AND BUSINESS VENTURIST MARK WAHLBERG RECENTLY JOINED FORCES WITH A PAIR OF TEQUILA CONNOISSEURS ON A SUPER-PREMIUM SPIRIT WITH SERIOUS STAR POWER
BY AMANDA MCCOY
Outside of the silver screen, former rapper and Calvin Klein model Mark Wahlberg is famous for three things: big-ticket business ventures, a fervor for golf (his Beverly Hills home boasts a genuine short-game facility in the backyard, replete with rollicking greens and deep alabaster bunkers), and his seemingly ageless physique. To maintain the latter, the leading man and recreational tippler noted in a recent media interview that he made the switch from wine to tequila to keep his post-50 biceps. And being a prolific entrepreneur (Wahlberg launched the Boston-based restaurant chain Wahlburgers in 2021, and is the proprietor of F-45 Fitness and sport utility apparel brand Municipal), perhaps it was fate that led him to business mogul Aron Marquez and pro golfer Abraham Ancer, owners of Flecha Azul Tequila, at a 2019 Pro-Ams. It took but a mere few sips of the Jalisco-born spirit to prompt Wahlberg to pledge an ownership stake.
Both of Mexican descent, Marquez and Ancer describe themselves as self-made men. Longtime friends, they each found rousing success in their respective fields: Marquez the CEO of a major oil company, Ancer the most decorated golfer to hail from Mexico. They decided to team up with a super-premium tequila brand as a love letter to their heritage in 2017, officially launching Flecha Azul in 2020. According to Wahlberg, he was never asked to endorse the liquid, much less invest in an equity stake. “I loved their story; everything that they’ve done is so similar to what I’m trying to build on my own, one step at a time,” he told Hollywood Reporter in 2021.
The Flecha Azul (“blue arrow” in Spanish) collection spans five expressions: blanco, reposado, añejo, cristalino, and a powerful extra añjeo born for sipping. Each tequila is composed of 100% Blue Weber agave, plucked at the peak of maturity, and slow-cooked in traditional masonry ovens. Aged for 36 months in former bourbon American oak barrels, the flagship extra añjeo is a flood of the senses, featuring a gorgeous nose of praline, roasted pineapple, and vanilla. The sip is complex yet balanced with gently extracted wood tannins.
