The Camarena Family has been making tequila since 1937, crafting some of the world’s best tequilas for generations. Where Felipe and his sons have established El Pandillo Distillery is a place where they honor their family’s proud tequila tradition and quality standards while innovating for today. The name of the distillery, El Pandillo was the name of Felipe’s grandfather’s favorite bull and the tahona stone you see was the only surviving piece of what would have been their family’s distillery during the Revolution.

With tequila’s growing popularity, many producers modernize and rush the process to the detriment of crafting great tequila. At G4, Felipe uses traditional stone ovens, cooking the agave for 22 hours. However, most stone ovens only cook from the bottom, creating wasted agave and uneven taste. G4’s ovens cook from top and bottom to bring out the pure agave flavor. In addition to this, when the agave is done, most producers discard this. At G4, they repurpose the remains and turn it into fertilizer, reducing waste.

G4 tequila is distilled using traditional copper stills for the 1st and 2nd distillation. It’s how tequila was traditionally made, and provides a better end result than stainless. While it takes a little more work and won’t last quite as long, when it comes to pursuing the highest quality standards, that little bit extra is worth it to Felipe. They say the devil is in the details – if you look at the photo, you’ll see yellow pipes taking the steam away. This is captured and used in other parts of the production process, making boilers at the distillery more efficient, reducing wasted energy.

If you ever have the opportunity to tour El Pandillo, right outside the ovens, you’ll see this concrete that you may innocently think is stamped concrete. Far from it, this is where they chop the agave with machetes to determine the sex of the plant and remove the “male parts” before going into the oven. Doing this removes bitterness and is a quality step few others dare consider. Look up at the roof, and you’ll see how they harvest rainwater at El Pandillo and use this rainwater in distilling G4 tequila, providing a crisp, pure, complex taste.

From crafting a great blanco tequila, as much as we enjoy drinking it, we put some of our tequila into bourbon barrels to age – creating our Reposado, Añejo and Extra Añejo. When we age our tequila, some of ours will stay in for up to twice as long as required for that category. What comes out after aging is a smoothness and additional character from the barrels. Some aficionados have wondered why some of our varieties are lighter in color. The answer is simple, at G4, we never add anything that doesn’t belong in tequila, including caramel color.

While the days of the stone tahona may have passed, Felipe’s commitment to recycling, energy efficiency and innovation can clearly been seen in the device dubbed “Felipestein.” A recycled steamroller, Felipe created this device and has it going over the agave using a 1 HP motor. By comparison, others need to use 10-15 HP motors. Environmentally conscious and conserving energy all while never compromising quality in any way. That’s what four generations of tequila mastery brings.

The Camarena family is legendary in tequila. Felipe is universally regarded as a master and he has passed this knowledge and respect for tequila on to his sons. They have a passion for tequila, using only their own agave plants, crafting using traditional methods blended with innovation and eco-friendliness. It’s a unique combination and a great story, but when you taste G4, that smile across your lips will tell it all.