
La Gritona Reposado
La Gritona · Destiladora El Pandillo
A reposado that refuses to shout — Melly Barajas lets the agave and terroir carry the conversation. Understated, elegant, and one of the great values in agave spirits.
Nose
Bright cooked agave leads, followed by wet river stone, lime zest, white pepper, and a whisper of vanilla. Grassy and clean, with none of the oak-forward sweetness common to the category.
Palate
Silky and medium-bodied, with cooked agave at the core wrapped in citrus pith, green herbs, and a mineral salinity. Subtle vanilla and a light peppery warmth emerge midpalate, but the wood remains a quiet supporting player.
Finish
Dry, savory, and lingering — chalky minerality, lime peel, and a faint anise note that fades slowly without heat.
- Agave
- 100% Blue Weber Agave, sourced from the Highlands of Jalisco, cooked in stainless steel autoclaves
- Production
- Agave is cooked in autoclaves, milled, fermented with proprietary yeast in stainless steel, and double-distilled in stainless pot stills with copper coils. Rested approximately 8 months in ex-American whiskey barrels. Bottled in distinctive recycled green glass with hand-numbered labels.
- Region
- Valle de Guadalupe, Jalisco, Mexico (Highlands)
- Cooking Method
- Agave is cooked in autoclaves, milled, fermented with proprietary yeast in stainless steel, and double-distilled in stainless pot stills with copper coils. Rested approximately 8 months in ex-American whiskey barrels. Bottled in distinctive recycled green glass with hand-numbered labels.
- NOM
- NOM 1533
- Additives Free
- Yes
Cocktail Suggestion
The Quiet Word — 2 oz La Gritona Reposado, 0.75 oz fresh lime juice, 0.5 oz honey syrup (2:1 honey to water), 3 dashes celery bitters. Shake with ice, strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a lime twist expressed and discarded.
Food Pairing
Grilled branzino with salsa verde, charred spring onions, and a squeeze of lime — the fish's clean minerality mirrors the tequila's saline finish.
Master distiller Melly Barajas built her Jesús María distillery, El Pandillo, largely by hand — repurposing a truck axle into a tahona-adjacent shredder she calls 'Frankenstein' — and hand-numbers every recycled green glass bottle of La Gritona herself.
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