G4 Extra Añejo 5 Year Tequila
G4 · El Pandillo Distillery (NOM 1579)
Felipe Camarena's dedication to traditional production — tahona-crushed agave, open-air fermentation, copper pot distillation — creates an extra añejo that never forgets it's tequila. Five years in barrel could easily overwhelm lesser distillates, but the agave here is strong enough to hold its ground. A masterclass in the friction between spirit and wood.
Nose
Rich cooked agave sweetness blends with butterscotch and leather. Dark chocolate and oak resin develop, joined by subtle vanilla and dried tobacco leaf. A distant mineral note anchors the complexity.
Palate
Dense and layered. Caramel and cinnamon wrap around the agave core, with coffee and dark chocolate emerging at mid-palate. The oak is prominent but never extractive — five years of rest have integrated the wood flavors fully. A peppery undercurrent runs throughout.
Finish
Exceptionally long. Tobacco, vanilla, and a lingering earthiness that recalls damp soil after rain. The agave whispers through to the very end.
- Agave
- 100% Blue Weber Agave, Highland (Los Altos) grown
- Production
- Tahona-crushed, open-air fermented, copper pot distilled
- Region
- Jesús María, Jalisco, Mexico
- Cooking Method
- Tahona-crushed, open-air fermented, copper pot distilled
- Distillation
- Double distilled in copper pot stills
- Aging Vessel
- Aged 5 years in ex-American whiskey barrels
- NOM
- 1579
- Additives Free
- Yes
Food Pairing
The chocolate and tobacco notes in this extra añejo mirror the complex spice profile of Oaxacan mole negro, while the agave sweetness balances the dish's bitter chocolate and dried chili heat.
Fourth-generation tequilero Felipe Camarena produces G4 at his family's El Pandillo distillery in the Jalisco highlands, using a tahona wheel and methods his great-grandfather would recognize.
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