Terralta Extra Añejo 8 Year
Terralta · Destilería El Pandillo (NOM 1579)
Felipe Camarena's Terralta line is produced at over 7,000 feet in the Jalisco Highlands, where cooler temperatures and lower atmospheric pressure shape both agave growth and barrel aging. Eight years in oak is ambitious for tequila, but this expression retains enough agave character to justify the wait. It drinks more like fine aged spirit than oak extract.
Nose
Rich caramel and butterscotch lead, followed by dark chocolate, roasted agave, and a gentle earthiness. Oak is prominent but not overwhelming, with vanilla and cinnamon layered beneath.
Palate
Velvety and full, with cooked agave sweetness balanced by oak tannins and bittersweet chocolate. Notes of tobacco and leather emerge mid-palate, while a mineral undertone grounds the richness. The lengthy aging has softened every edge without erasing the agave's identity.
Finish
Remarkably long, with oak-driven vanilla and cocoa slowly giving way to a warm, peppery close with lingering leather.
- Agave
- 100% Blue Weber agave (Highland, Jesús María)
- Production
- Brick oven cooked, natural fermentation, copper pot distilled
- Region
- Jalisco, Mexico
- Cooking Method
- Brick oven cooked, natural fermentation, copper pot distilled
- Distillation
- Double distilled in copper pot stills
- Aging Vessel
- 8 years in American oak barrels
- NOM
- NOM 1579
- Additives Free
- Yes
Food Pairing
Chicken thighs braised in a complex mole negro featuring dark chocolate, dried chiles, and toasted sesame seeds. The mole's bitterness and depth find a natural partner in the tequila's cocoa and oak.
Master distiller Felipe Camarena produces Terralta at his family's highland distillery in Jesús María, Jalisco, at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, using traditional brick ovens and copper pot stills to create tequilas that honor agave over additives.
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