El Tesoro Collaborates with Yamazaki for Its Latest Tequila
This latest expression is an añejo that was aged 12 months in Japanese whisky casks from Suntory’s Yamazaki Distillery
October 29, 2025 –––––– Danny Brandon
Barrel finishing collaborations have long bridged the gap between the whisky and agave world. Corazon Tequila and Buffalo Trace have done more than 10 Expresiones de Corazon annual releases since 2013, which feature tequilas aged in Buffalo Trace whiskey barrels. Lunazul and owner Heaven Hill have released a variety of tequilas matured in Heaven Hill barrels. And El Tesoro has been working with Suntory on whisky barrel-aged tequilas since 2014.
Those collaborations, which became known as the Mundial Collection in 2021, marked that year by releasing an añejo aged in Laphroaig peated single malt casks. The next two expressions tapped barrels from Beam, with 2023’s Knob Creek Rye Edition and last year’s Basil Hayden Toast Edition. For this year’s release, El Tesoro has used single malt casks from Suntory’s lauded Yamazaki Distillery.
El Tesoro’s new Yamazaki Edition is the result of a collaboration between El Tesoro’s former master distiller Carlos Camarena, current master distiller Jenny Camarena (Carlos's younger sister), and fifth-generation master blender Shinji Fukuoyo from House of Suntory. The El Tesoro tequila—typically distilled using 6–9 year old Highland agave crushed with a tahona stone, and distilled in small copper pot stills—was aged initially aged in American oak bourbon barrels before undergoing a year-long finish in Spanish oak sherry and wine casks that previously held Yamazaki 12 year old single malt.
El Tesoro Mundial Collection: Yamazaki Edition has a suggested retail price of $200, slightly higher than previous editions. (The Knob Creek and Basil Hayden editions retailed for around $175.) It’s a fairly limited release—30,000 bottles—but is available at retailers nationwide.
Collaborations between Japan and Mexico like this are unusual, but some do exist. We’ve seen a couple of tequila expressions finished using new Japanese mizunara oak casks—including a reposado from Casa Dragones that launched in 2022, and a mizunara-aged añejo from Alma Del Jaguar that’s rolling out this month. On the whisky side, Akashi’s 3 year old Tequila Cask Japanese single malt is one of the few examples of Japanese whiskies tapping into the tequila side.
