Viuda de Martinez Extra Anejo Tequila
Compañia Tequilera Los Valores (NOM-1608), La Laja, Jalisco
80pf
On a trip down to Mexico, I had the good fortune of stumbling upon this tequila. The plata has such a distinct fruitiness and this adds 40 months of barrel aging on top of that resulting in a decadent burst of caramel, oak, chocolate, almonds. And finally available in the States.
After purchasing the “Hacienda de Arriba” in 1840, Francisco Martínez Carranza established a tavern for Tequila production, later known as “La Martineña.” After his passing, his wife Ana María Gómez Rodriguez inherited the tavern in 1864 and continued to work it. The distillery passes on to their son Francisco Martínez Gómez, who marries his second wife María Catalina de Jesús Jimenez Jimenez. After her husband dies, she inherits the distillery, and the tequila becomes known as the famous Tequila “Viuda de Martinez".
When Maria Catalina de Jesús Jimenez Jimenez dies, Manuel Flores Enríquez, her widower husband inherits the distillery and works it until his death leaving all of his possessions without a will. His children work the distillery until it passes into the hands of Roberto Ruiz Rosales, a pioneer of tequila making in the Arenal area. His grandson, Jose Luis Ruiz, keeps the family tradition going nowadays.