Viuda de Martínez Extra Añejo

Some tequila brands are built around a new concept, while others carry a history that stretches back generations. Viuda de Martínez falls firmly into the latter category, with a story dating to 1840 that connects the brand to an important period in tequila’s development in Jalisco.

The name itself has an unusual and deeply personal origin. After her husband’s death, María Catalina de Jesús Jiménez Jiménez inherited the family distillery and continued producing tequila under the name Viuda de Martínez, or “Martínez’s Widow.”

At a time when women faced significant limitations in business and industry, her role in continuing the family’s tequila production became an important part of the brand’s history.

For generations, the Viuda de Martínez name remained associated with tequila production in the region.

Like many historic tequila brands, however, its story was not simply one of uninterrupted growth. Ownership, production, and the tequila industry itself changed considerably over the decades, leaving the historic name largely absent from the modern market.

Today, José Luis Ruiz, a descendant of the family, is working to bring Viuda de Martínez back into the conversation.

The modern expression is produced at NOM 1608 in Jalisco, while plans are underway to restore the historic Ex Hacienda La Parreña in El Arenal and eventually return production there—the location closely connected to the brand’s origins.

That combination of history and modern production makes Viuda de Martínez an interesting tequila to examine. There is a difference between simply putting an old name on a bottle and attempting to preserve, understand, and rebuild the story behind that name.

In the case of Viuda de Martínez, the tequila provides an opportunity to look not only at what is in the bottle today but also at the nearly two centuries of history that helped put the name there in the first place.

The extra añejo starts with a rich, deep, warm nose.

Bold aromas of caramel, leather, oak, and allspice put you in an old-school parlor. These are followed by a medley of black cherry, dark chocolate, toffee, cigar pipe, walnut, dried fig, agave, and a hint of chocolate-covered orange.

On the palate, this makes me think of sitting in front of a fire on a cold fall evening.

Warming notes of butterscotch, tobacco, leather, Dr Pepper, and oak blend nicely at the front. This is followed by a nice blend of coffee beans, clove, raisin, orange marmalade, cocoa, agave, and baking spice.

Mouthfeel is slightly thin, with an average-length but rich and enjoyable finish that has lingering notes of molasses, old leather, tobacco, and oak.

To me, an extra añejo is something special. It's not an everyday pour but rather a treat that's meant to be appreciated, and this one certainly lives up to those expectations.

Rich, bold, warm, and inviting, Viuda de Martínez draws you in from the first sip and keeps your attention until the last drop. The layers of flavor continue to unfold as it opens in the glass, rewarding patience and attention.

This is the kind of extra añejo that reminds you why the category is so highly regarded.

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