Top Rated Extra Añejo Tequilas

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.

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.

Tapatio is the partnership between Marko Karakasevic of Charbay Distillery in northern California with Master Distiller Carlos Camarena at La Alteña distillery in Jalisco. Excelencia Gran Reserva Lot 1 was distilled in 1996 and aged in char no. 4 new American oak for four years. Here's where it gets crazy - then it was rested in 5 liter glass vessels before bottling in 2013. Spirits can't evolve in glass, you say? Well, agave breaks all the rules.

A category that has been growing in popularity over the last few years, Extra Añejo is the most heavily-matured style of tequila. Seeing at least 3 years in cask, most producers really seek to present their Extra Añejo offerings like a fine cognac both in terms of marketing and in many ways flavor profile. This product is aged for 3 years and 8 months. Limited production of 624 bottles, it should be noted that this comes in a handsome wooden box.

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.

First released in 1995 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the distillery, Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia is the world's first extra-añejo tequila. Distilled from agave hearts harvested at seven to twelve years old and then matured in both American and French oak barrels for at least 3 years, this is the ultimate expression of Jose Cuervo. Rich and flavorful, sip this neat or on the rocks.

Cazadores uses 100% agave for their tequila from agaves sourced from the Highlands of Jalisco. Their extra añejo is aged for 3 years in virgin American oak barrels after stainless steel double-fermentation. Cazadores, meaning “hunters” is so named because their founder’s grandfather, José María Bañuelos used to love to watch the deer run among the agave fields.

Tequila Ocho selects agaves from particular ranchos to put a focus on the terroir of the agave. This particular tequila comes from the San Agustin rancho near the town of Jesús María which was leased to the Camarena family for the purpose of growing agave. The extra añejo is aged for 3 years in ex-American bourbon casks and is bottled at 80 proof. Note a single barrel extra añejo exists from this vintage and rancho at a higher proof and limited availability.

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.

Enrique Fonseca's massive Tequileña distillery is a veritable laboratory of tequila production and the experimental lots of extra añejo that comprise the Fuenteseca project were never intended for commercial sale. These barrels were laid down in a subterranean cellar, where the cool environment was intended to allow them to age for years beyond what was otherwise considered desirable. This single-harvest tequila is a blend of column- and pot-distilled products which were vatted together before being aged in American oak ex-red wine barrels (85%) and used French oak (15%). This is the youngest batch of Fuenteseca but is still eons older than almost anything else on the market.