G4 Reposado

G4 Reposado is Felipe Camarena's six-month bourbon-barrel expression from El Pandillo Distillery in the highlands of Jesús María, Jalisco, where four generations of the Camarena family have refined the craft of additive-free tequila under NOM 1579. The agaves are cooked for twenty-two hours in one of two stone ovens on site, then crushed by a handmade metal tahona nicknamed "Felipestein"—a hand-welded hybrid that yields a richer, more textured must than modern roller mills. The result is a reposado that balances traditional highland sweetness with the structural backbone only slow stone-oven cooking and tahona extraction can produce. Felipe Camarena runs El Pandillo with the same obsessive attention to natural process that defined his grandfather's distillery: blue Weber agave from the red volcanic soils of highland Jalisco, cooked low and slow to coax out caramelized agave sugars without scorching. After the tahona crush, fermentation proceeds with native yeasts, and both distillations happen in copper pot stills. The water used to proof the tequila is a fifty-fifty blend of collected rainwater and spring water, a detail that underscores Camarena's commitment to terroir and resource independence. Used bourbon barrels age the reposado for six months, just long enough to integrate oak without masking the agave. The nose opens with cooked agave, oak, black pepper, and a faint alcoholic warmth—the highland agave character comes through immediately, followed by barrel spice. On the palate, those same notes soften: cooked agave, vanilla, oak, and black pepper appear in gentler proportion, with the sweetness of the agave taking center stage and the oak providing structure rather than domination. The finish is light but long, warm spice trailing into a smooth fade that invites another sip. Pour it neat to appreciate the tahona texture, or use it in a Paloma where the bourbon-barrel vanilla will lift the grapefruit without overwhelming it. It pairs well with carne asada, aged cheeses, or anything grilled over mesquite. G4 Reposado is available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.