The Still & The VineSchool of Wine & Spirits
Fuenteseca Reserva Extra Añejo 15 Year
TequilaIssue 118

Fuenteseca Reserva Extra Añejo 15 Year

Fuenteseca · Destiladora del Valle de Tequila (NOM 1146)

82.2 proof15 Year OldLos Altos and Valles, Jalisco, Mexico
A meditative, almost cognac-like tequila that walks the razor's edge of over-oaking without ever falling in. Not for those seeking bright agave — this is a sipper for the patient.

Kit Aromas

Tasting Notes

Nose

An opening of dried fig, aged oak, and antique library — followed by dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, and a distant echo of cooked agave beneath layers of vanilla and toasted coconut.

Palate

Remarkably composed for its age: dark caramel, roasted almond, black tea, and clove wrap around a still-present agave core. Oak is authoritative but never bitter, tempered by butterscotch and a whisper of orange peel.

Finish

Extraordinarily long, drying gently into leather, cocoa nib, and lingering pepper — with the agave finally reasserting itself in the last breath.

Specifications
Agave
100% Blue Weber Agave (Agave tequilana), sourced from Fonseca's family estates
Production
Traditional autoclave and clay oven cooking, roller mill extraction, stainless fermentation with proprietary yeast, double distilled in copper pot stills. Aged 15 years in a combination of ex-bourbon American oak and French Limousin oak barrels.
Region
Los Altos and Valles, Jalisco, Mexico
Cooking Method
Traditional autoclave and clay oven cooking, roller mill extraction, stainless fermentation with proprietary yeast, double distilled in copper pot stills. Aged 15 years in a combination of ex-bourbon American oak and French Limousin oak barrels.
NOM
NOM 1146
Additives Free
Yes
Serve & Pair

Cocktail Suggestion

The Held Decision — 2 oz Fuenteseca Reserva 15, served neat in a tulip glass with a single wide strip of orange peel expressed and dropped in. No ice, no dilution — this spirit has already made its choices.

Food Pairing

Aged Manchego with quince paste, or a square of 85% dark chocolate alongside toasted marcona almonds.

The Story

Master distiller Enrique Fonseca — one of Jalisco's largest independent agave growers — laid down these barrels in the early 2000s as a private experiment, waiting fifteen years to see whether tequila could rival the world's great aged spirits.

Train These Aromas
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