Fortaleza Anejo Tequila
Fortaleza Anejo Tequila is a 750mL anejo bottled at 40% ABV (80 proof) — the house's tahona-crushed, copper-pot tequila aged 18 months in American oak barrels at Destileria La Fortaleza in Tequila, Jalisco (NOM 1493). It is the longest-aged expression of one of Mexico's most traditional tequila productions. Order it online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 40% (80 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Style: Anejo tequila, 100% blue agave
- Aging: 18 months in American oak barrels (brand product page)
- Agave: Blue agave from the Tequila Valley, Jalisco
- Production: Stone-oven cooked 36 hours, 100% tahona-crushed, open-air wood-tank fermentation, double distilled in copper pot stills
- Origin: Destileria La Fortaleza, Tequila, Jalisco — NOM 1493
Eighteen Months on a Nineteenth-Century Method
Fortaleza's anejo begins exactly where its blanco does — Tequila Valley agave cooked for 36 hours in a stone oven, crushed by a two-ton volcanic tahona, fermented in open wooden tanks with the Sauza family's yeast, and double-distilled in copper pots that predate the modern tequila industry. Guillermo Erickson Sauza then rests the spirit for 18 months in American oak, long enough for butterscotch, toffee and hazelnut to build around the cooked agave without erasing it — the balance that makes this anejo a benchmark for traditionalists. Browse the house on the Fortaleza vendor page.
Tasting Notes
Per the brand's official notes: aromas of caramel, vanilla, butterscotch and cooked agave, with pineapple, peach, orange blossom, nutmeg and raisin detected in the glass; a thick, oily palate of butterscotch, caramel, toffee, citrus and hazelnut. The agave never leaves — it sweetens and darkens rather than disappearing under the wood.
How to Enjoy
Pour it neat in a stemmed glass and give it time; this is a sipping anejo in the whisky drinker's sense. A single cube trades a little aroma for extra silk. Step back through the range with the Reposado for the lighter rest, or start from the source with the Blanco; more aged agave is in our tequila collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Fortaleza Anejo aged?
18 months in American oak barrels, per the brand's product page — well past the one-year minimum for the anejo class. (The brand's general process page elsewhere mentions two years; the product-specific figure is the one stated for this bottling.)
What makes Fortaleza different from other anejos?
The production behind the barrel: stone-oven cooking, 100% tahona crushing, open-air wood-tank fermentation and copper pot distillation at a single small distillery — methods most producers retired generations ago.
Who makes Fortaleza Anejo?
Guillermo Erickson Sauza, fifth generation of the Sauza family, at Destileria La Fortaleza in Tequila, Jalisco (NOM 1493).
The long-aged end of the tahona range — order Fortaleza Anejo online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.