The Best Extra Añejo Tequilas

Suerte tequilas are made with 100% tahona crushed agaves. The tequilas are double distilled, first in stainless and then in a copper still with the entire process taking 17 hours to complete. Suerte Extra Añejo Tequila is a single-barrel release aged for seven years in charred American white oak whiskey barrel.

As a celebration of the distillery's 80th anniversary, this tequila honors the legacy of its founder, Don Julio González. This is a special 36-month aged Extra Añejo made from the final agave harvest planted by González and his family in 2006. Only 4,000 cases of the tequila will be released in 2021, and highly limited quantities of this rare liquid will continue to be released each year until it reaches the end of this final agave harvest. It is bottled at 40% ABV and available as of September, 2021.

El Tesoro Extra Añejo Tequila is made with 100% estate-grown blue weber agave harvested from the highlands of Jalisco. The agaves are cooked in a horno, or oven, for three days before being crushed by a two-ton volcanic rock tahona. It is double distilled and aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 4-5 years, longer than the three years required for this category. Availability begins October 2019--this is a permanent addition to the portfolio. (SRP $150)

Cierto Tequila is a 100% additive-free tequila brand —"cierto" translates to "true" — featuring estate-grown agave from the Highlands of Jalisco. Master Distillers Enrique Fonseca and Sergio Mendoza, fourth and fifth-generation agave farmers, crafted the tequilas which were distilled at La Tequileña Distillery in the town of Tequila. Each bottling in the Private Collection portfolio is blended with aged tequilas sourced from the Fonseca private library. The Extra Añejo expression was aged primarily in French Limousin oak which formerly held wine & spirits including cognac and armagnac. Availability begins in select markets in the US in February 2023 with a wider national release throughout 2023. (SRP $279)

Tequila San Matias is one of the oldest distilleries in Mexico, and to commemorate a century and change of tradition in 1993, released one of the first "extra-aged" tequilas on the market. The spirit is made from 100% agave grown in the Jalisco highlands that is harvested between 7 - 10 years. It spends three years in a combination of American (ex-bourbon) and French oak.

This extra añejo tequila uses agaves matured from 7-10 years harvested from Los Altos in Jalisco. The agaves are roasted for 72 hours in brick ovens before crushing, fermenting, and distilling. Uniquely, after distillation, the spirit goes through Avión's proprietary ultra-slow filtration method before it enters the barrel. It's aged a total of 44 months--43 months in large oak barrels and the final month in specially selected "petite barrels", which are rotated daily. Each bottle is hand-numbered and signed by Avión founder, Ken Austin.

"Diablito" translates to "the little devil," a play here on the phrase "the devil is in the details." The agave used in this tequila is grown using certified organic methods at 6,000 feet above sea level, in the Tierra Roja soils of the Amatitan region of Jalisco. The spirit is aged for 3 years and four months in new, lightly-charred French oak. Released annually in limited quantities.

Don Pilar Extra Añejo is tequila distilled from 100% blue agave grown in the Los Altos (Highlands) region of Jalisco, on five ranches owned by the distillery near the town of San José de Gracia. This Extra Añejo ages for 3 years in American white oak before it finishes an additional 4 months in French Limousin oak. Each bottle is hand-signed by distiller Don José Pilar Contreras Marquez and packaged in wooden gift boxes.

Germán González puts his tears and his heart into a distinctive, etched bottle with the classic Llorona legend on the back. Extra-mature agaves are selected and a proprietary yeast strain is used in a slow fermentation. Oak barrels which aged Scotch, sherry and cognac are used for maturation and aged for around five years. The blend is made with the goal of achieving a cognac or single-malt level of complexity. While most tequila is aged at 80 proof, this is bottled at 86 proof. The release will always be limited, according to González.

The extra añejo is aged over five years in used merlot and cabernet savuignon wine barrels from Napa Valley's Rombauer yielding a dark amber color with glints of ruby. Their agaves are 100% organic and like all of their releases, is 100 proof.