If you drink good tequila, there’s a very good chance that a member of the Camarena family is behind it. You don’t need to know too much history (here’s a good explainer), but various Camarenas are currently active with G4, Tequila Ocho and El Tesoro, three brands that continually show up in our best tequilas of the year lists.
So when there’s a passing of the torch at one of these distilleries, it’s a pretty big deal (and the Camarenas are a pretty big family). I was fortunate enough to witness the family’s latest promotion early this April during a trip to the La Alteña distillery in the Jalisco highlands. As we arrived, the team at La Alteña (NOM 1139) made a surprise announcement: Jenny Camarena, formerly the master of operations, was now officially the new master distiller and CEO of El Tesoro de Don Felipe Tequila, taking over from her brother Carlos. She is the first woman to run El Tesoro, which was launched by her grandfather Don Felipe Camarena in 1937.
“I’m not getting any younger,” says Carlos Camarena in a small ceremony outside the distillery’s gates. “We need younger people to run things. Jenny is ready. She’s ready to take over and to make our family history, our father and our ancestors proud.”
Jenny, the youngest of nine children, was a bit overwhelmed. “It’s an honor,” she says, following Carlos’s remarks. “Our business is a family business, and we’re proud to have many generations. It makes sense that I continue in this position. But it breaks my heart! It was a privilege having Carlos here every day.”
When I spoke with Jenny later that day, the youngest Camarena admitted she initially had little interest in joining the distillery. “I was living the dream of being an architect,” she says. “My brother Felipe is a civil engineer and was really involved in the distillery’s expansion. I saw him designing buildings and creating something, and I liked that. But both Carlos and Felipe, in different moments, approached me and asked me to come back. They said I should give it a try and understand what we’re making here.”
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The Spill’s team of judges select the best gin, bourbon, canned cocktail, value bottle, rum and a whole lot moreCamarena admittedly had a lot to learn (“I’d brag in college about my father making tequila, and when people asked how it was made, I’d say, ‘You should come and see because I don’t know.”). But after returning in 2015, she embraced her family role. “Every corner of the distillery brings memories of my father, my mother, my brother, my sisters and the families still working here all this time,” she says.
While it’d be wonderful to simply note Jenny Camarena’s ascension as part of her experience as master of operations and talented family lineage, having a woman heading up a major tequila brand is important. “For me, it’s a big deal,” she says. “Mexico is still a very macho society. So for me, this is a huge step. I’ve been lucky not to grow up in a macho family and not be surrounded by that — I’ve never felt ignored or underestimated. I think the relationship that we create, maybe because of my father and my brother, that family relationship has helped.”
“But I’m aware not all the distillers share this story,” Camarena adds. “I hope the rest of the industry sees that as a good thing and supports us. I actually hope the rest of the industry and the rest of the world could just — and I don’t think I’m a big example — acknowledge a little bit of the effort it takes to be a woman in this industry. Or in any industry.”
Camarena doesn’t plan to stray too much from what’s made El Tesoro an exceptional tequila. Crafted from 100% highlands-grown blue agave — almost all grown on the distillery’s estate — the agaves here are slow-cooked in hornos (ovens) for three days, then gently crushed by a two-ton volcano tahona stone (in a nod to modern times, it’s run on an electric vehicle, not a mule). The liquid is then fermented with wild yeast, double distilled (in very small stills) to proof and aged in the distillery’s cellar. All of El Tesoro’s releases are organic and additive-free, two attributes increasingly popular in the tequila-drinking world.
El Tesoro has branched out into some incredibly delicious and inventive expressions over the past few years (the Mundial limited editions in particular). While Jenny is coy about upcoming plans (though we did get a sneak peek at something wonderful involving an unidentified second maturation that may be released this fall), she already has ideas. “I’d love to explore high-proof expressions,” she says. “And I don’t want to make a cristalino.”
Whatever direction she chooses, El Tesoro is in good hands, particularly with a Camarena leading the way. “I’m pretty confident about taking this role,” she adds. “I’ve had the best teacher. And I have the best family for this.”
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