La Pulga's Double Barrel Reposado Is the Texas Cross-Border Collaboration You Didn't Know You Needed
There's a certain alchemy that happens when two spirits traditions share the same wood. The barrel becomes a translator — carrying the memory of one liquid into the soul of another — and the result, when it works, is something neither spirit could accomplish alone. That's the premise behind the new La Pulga Tequila Reposado Double Barrel, a limited-edition release that bridges the Mexican highlands of Jalisco and the sun-scorched streets of Austin, Texas, through the medium of some seriously accomplished bourbon barrels.
The La Pulga Tequila Reposado Double Barrel was aged in barrels from Still Austin, one of the very best craft whiskey distilleries in the country. The collaboration pairs two Texas-rooted brands — one a Fort Worth-based tequila label, the other an Austin whiskey house with a growing national reputation — around a shared philosophy of craft, provenance, and the kind of patience that doesn't show up on a spreadsheet.
Two Texan Brands, One Barrel, One Big Idea
Fresh in for summer, the two Texas companies have collaborated on a dual-distillery release: Fort Worth-based brand La Pulga Tequila has debuted a new limited-edition Reposado tequila finished in Still Austin's Red Corn Bourbon barrels. On paper, the connection might seem unconventional — a tequila brand leaning on a bourbon distillery for its secondary maturation vessel. In practice, it's the kind of move that makes complete sense once you understand the people and products involved.
"Having spent time living in Austin, I've long admired the originality and craftsmanship coming out of Still Austin, so finishing this tequila in their prized red corn bourbon barrels felt like a natural evolution for us," Collins said. That sentiment speaks to something real in the modern American spirits market: brand collaborations are no longer just marketing exercises. When they work, they're rooted in genuine respect between makers who understand each other's product.
Still Austin's award-winning Bottled in Bond Red Corn Bourbon is considered one of the distillery's most sought-after releases, which makes the new spirit an advantageous collaboration for both Texas-based brands. For La Pulga, attaching itself to one of the most decorated craft distilleries in the American South is a statement of intent. For Still Austin, it's proof that their barrels carry enough character to shape another category of spirit entirely.
What Goes Into the Glass: La Pulga's Production Process
To appreciate what the Double Barrel Reposado achieves, it helps to understand the foundation upon which it's built. La Pulga is not a shortcut operation. The brand has built its identity around a production philosophy that balances tradition with deliberate modern technique — a combination that reflects the complexity of the highlands terroir it works with.
The tequila is made at Agroindustria Guadalajara (NOM 1068), along with a few other brands, at high elevation in the town of Capilla de Guadalupe. High-altitude production is a meaningful detail. Highland agaves — Blue Weber plants raised in the red clay soils above 1,500 meters — are known for their fruit-forward, floral character, a profile that differs substantially from the earthier, more herbal lowland expressions. That baseline fruitiness and brightness is exactly what makes highland tequila a candidate for successful bourbon barrel finishing: the agave has something to say, and the wood amplifies rather than obliterates it.
La Pulga utilizes what it calls a 50/50 cooking process for its agaves: half are cooked in a stone oven, the other half in an autoclave. This split approach is worth unpacking. Stone oven cooking — the traditional method — takes days and imparts a roasted, slightly caramelized quality to the agave sugars. Autoclave cooking is faster and cleaner, preserving more of the raw agave's vegetal and citrus-driven character. By splitting the batch down the middle, La Pulga captures the best of both worlds: complexity from the traditional method, freshness from the modern one.
Fermentation takes place in open vats using yeast from nearby citrus orchards, and the tequila rests in oxygen-infused stainless-steel vats for 19 hours after distillation. The use of wild citrus orchard yeast is a deliberate terroir decision, one that reinforces the fruity, bright character of the highland agave. The 19-hour oxygen-infused rest post-distillation is a less common step — essentially a controlled micro-oxidation that softens harsh edges before the spirit ever touches wood.
Aged expressions are matured in used whiskey barrels from Kentucky and Tennessee. This gives La Pulga's standard reposado and añejo lineup an American oak backbone with the gentle vanilla and caramel notes that well-used bourbon barrels tend to impart without overwhelming the agave underneath. It's a familiar and effective setup — but the Double Barrel expression takes it several significant steps further.
The Double Barrel Process: Eleven Months of Intentional Maturation
The two-stage maturation process is what makes this release stand out from the rest of La Pulga's lineup. It begins by taking La Pulga's Highlands Reposado that was initially aged for seven months, and aging it for an additional four months in Still Austin's "freshly harvested" Red Corn Bourbon barrels.
That phrase "freshly harvested" is critical. These are not barrels that sat empty in a warehouse for months waiting to be repurposed. They came directly from Still Austin's rickhouse to La Pulga, still saturated with red corn bourbon, their staves soaked through with years of accumulated flavor compounds. The tequila that went into those casks wasn't meeting inert wood — it was encountering a wood that still had plenty left to give.
According to La Pulga, this gives the tequila a richer and more complex flavor "where agave's natural warmth meets subtle spice and sweet red corn complexity." That flavor architecture makes sense on a chemical level. Bourbon barrels that previously held a high-corn mash — especially one built around a distinctive heirloom variety like Jimmy Red corn — leave behind a specific suite of congeners in the wood. Residual sweetness, a particular roasted nuttiness, and a gentle peppery spice are all characteristics that transfer readily to a spirit aged long enough to draw them out.
The Double Barrel Reposado is a 90-proof, 45 percent ABV spirit made with 100 percent Blue Weber Agave grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, and the tequila is additive-free. That last detail — additive-free — matters more than it might seem. The tequila industry has long permitted a short list of "approved additives," including caramel coloring, glycerin, oak extract, and sugar-based syrup, that can artificially simulate the color and mouthfeel of aged spirit. That La Pulga opts out of this system entirely means every note of vanilla, spice, or sweetness in the Double Barrel Reposado came from the barrels themselves, not a bottle on a production floor.
The Source: Still Austin's Red Corn Bourbon and Why It Matters
The barrels at the center of this collaboration are not generic ex-bourbon wood. They previously held one of the more distinctive and critically acclaimed craft bourbons to emerge from Texas in recent years — and understanding that bourbon helps explain why the tequila it helped finish is worth your attention.
In the summer of 2023, Still Austin Whiskey Co. introduced a new, ongoing "Seasonal Bottled in Bond Series" with plans to release a different bottled in bond whiskey for each of the four seasons of the year. Each release is intended to capture the ingredients, flavors, and themes of its respective season, with labels showcasing unique artwork from Marc Burckhardt, with animals and colors intended to conjure the mood of the particular season.
The Red Corn Bourbon is the first in a line of four bonded whiskeys, made with a mashbill of 36% Jimmy Red corn, 34% white corn, 25% rye, and 5% malted barley. Jimmy Red corn — a heritage open-pollinated variety that was once nearly extinct — has become something of a craft spirits obsession over the past decade. It carries a different character than the commodity yellow dent corn that anchors most commercial bourbons: nuttier, earthier, with a depth of flavor that pushes through distillation and into the glass.
For Still Austin's Bottled in Bond releases, each expression is made with 100% Texas-grown grains and utilizes a six-month slow water reduction process which brings out more "mature" notes like vanilla and caramel. That commitment to local grain sourcing and patient production is what separates Still Austin from the wave of craft distilleries that launched in the 2010s on purchased sourced whiskey and a good story. Still Austin built the real thing from the ground up.
The bourbon the Red Corn label delivers in the glass is anything but shy. This rich and spiced bourbon starts big with a bold nose of cracked pepper, dusty leather, and cocktail cherries. The palate is dense and rewarding with layers of chile pepper, caramel, and buttery cornbread. Charred oak fades to chocolate, coffee, and pecan pie on the finish. These aren't delicate flavors. They're the kind of aromatics that soak deep into the oak staves — and they don't disappear when the bourbon leaves. They linger, waiting for the next liquid to come along and carry them somewhere new.
Still Austin's 5-Year Bottled in Bond Red Corn bourbon was ranked #7 on Whisky Advocate's Top 20. That's not a minor accolade. Whisky Advocate's annual Top 20 is one of the most watched lists in the American whiskey world, drawing from thousands of reviews to identify the year's most compelling bottles. Landing in the top ten is the kind of recognition that puts a distillery on the national map — and puts its barrels in high demand.
A Deeper Look at the Red Corn's Flavor Fingerprint
The bourbon's aroma is complex and expressive, with strong scents of ancho pepper, cinnamon spice, and black pepper, which are offset by truffle and cream soda. It's an unusual pairing of scents, yet it works exceedingly well thanks to its intensity. The ancho pepper note in particular is a signature of the Jimmy Red corn influence — it's that savory, roasted-chile quality that separates a Red Corn bourbon nose from the typical caramel-and-vanilla parade.
The 2025 Still Austin Bottled in Bond Red Corn Bourbon is a robust and full-flavored 6-year-old bourbon that offers a richer and more expressive experience than its predecessor, thanks to an additional year of aging. The 2025 edition features an aroma that is heavy and grounded; in addition to initial aromas of ancho pepper and cinnamon spice, thick scents of cherry cobbler and barrel char join in and transform the bourbon's nose. These are the flavors that, embedded in recently vacated oak staves, would greet any new spirit entering those barrels — including La Pulga's Highlands Reposado.
The Science of Secondary Barrel Maturation in Tequila
The practice of finishing tequila in secondary casks has accelerated dramatically over the past decade, driven partly by the success of the Scotch whisky industry's cask-finishing tradition and partly by tequila's own elevation in the luxury spirits market. But not all secondary maturations are created equal. The quality and specificity of the finishing barrel determines whether a secondary maturation enhances the spirit or simply muddies it.
Wood history is the most consequential variable in barrel aging. An ex-bourbon barrel has already surrendered much of its water-soluble lignin compounds to whiskey; it imparts subtler vanilla and allows more agave character to persist. This is the key insight that makes well-used bourbon barrels such an attractive finishing vessel for tequila: they give without taking over. A fresh oak barrel would strip the agave character from the tequila within weeks. A well-used ex-bourbon cask allows a longer, more integrated conversation between the wood and the spirit.
Craft and artisanal tequila producers in particular experiment with single-use casks from specific origins. La Pulga's approach fits squarely within this trend — but with the added dimension of knowing precisely which bourbon occupied those barrels before the tequila arrived. That specificity is what elevates the Double Barrel Reposado from "barrel-finished tequila" to a genuine spirit conversation between two distinct craft traditions.
There will be slight differences between whiskey and bourbon barrels, due to the 51% of corn required to make bourbon, which tends to leave a sweeter taste. When that corn percentage is pushed further — especially with a sweetness-forward heirloom variety like Jimmy Red — the barrel's imprint on a subsequent spirit becomes even more pronounced. A reposado going into Red Corn Bourbon barrels isn't just picking up generic oak notes. It's absorbing the specific residual sweetness, spice, and grain character of one of Texas's most celebrated seasonal bourbons.
How Tequila's Barrel Landscape Has Evolved
For much of tequila's history, barrel aging wasn't a huge consideration — tequila was meant to be consumed young, with the spirit's natural flavors unadulterated by wood. But as tequila moved up the ladder of respectability, distillers began to barrel-age their products.
Today, aged expressions are an almost required part of a tequila distiller's portfolio, and tequileros are pushing boundaries by trying different barrels, new techniques, and longer aging processes. Most brands age their tequilas in American oak, either new or bourbon barrels. More frequently, distillers are turning to other wood types and barrels that have held other spirits. The result is an explosion of finishing experiments — wine barrels, cognac casks, rum hogsheads — but bourbon barrels remain the most naturally compatible vessel for highland tequila, given the complementary role that corn sweetness and vanilla oak play against the spirit's fruity agave baseline.
The time in wood creates a flavor profile that's more approachable for sipping — Ana María Romero, maestra tequilera of Mijenta Tequila, describes it as "a smoother, more velvety product with a deeper relationship to the wood, which adds richer flavors of vanilla, cacao, butterscotch, and stone fruit." For La Pulga's Double Barrel Reposado, those descriptors apply, with the additional layer of red corn-derived spice and nuttiness that the Still Austin barrels bring to the equation.
Limited Availability and What That Means for Collectors
La Pulga's founder described the Double Barrel Reposado as "truly a must-try one of a kind" that won't be available again after it's sold out. That's not marketing boilerplate. It's a structural reality. The Still Austin Red Corn Bourbon barrels used in this collaboration are finite — once they're committed to tequila finishing, those specific casks and all their accumulated character are spent. There's no way to replicate exactly this batch because the barrels themselves are unrepeatable.
Limited releases in the craft spirits world can sometimes feel like artificial scarcity manufactured to drive hype. This one is different. The constraints are genuine: the supply of freshly emptied Still Austin Red Corn Bourbon barrels is determined by Still Austin's own production and release schedule, not by La Pulga's marketing calendar. When the tequila aged in those casks is gone, there is no second run.
For enthusiasts who track the intersection of craft bourbon and premium tequila — a Venn diagram that has grown considerably in the past five years — this release represents a rare case where the provenance story is completely verifiable. You can taste the Still Austin Red Corn Bourbon for yourself, and then taste the tequila those barrels helped finish. The through-line is clear and direct, not speculative.
The Broader Significance: Texas as a Spirits Crossroads
There's a geographic and cultural logic to this collaboration that goes beyond barrel availability. Texas occupies a unique position in American spirits culture. It borders Mexico — and the deep tequila and mezcal traditions that flow across that border — while simultaneously developing one of the most serious and growing craft whiskey scenes in the country. Cities like Austin and Fort Worth sit at the intersection of those two worlds in a way that nowhere else in America quite replicates.
Still Austin has become a flagship example of what Texas craft distilling can accomplish when it commits to grain-to-glass production and doesn't cut corners. Still Austin iterates each year with a new bourbon, made with red corn and bottled in bond — the first in a line of four bonded whiskeys that will roll out over consecutive seasons. That ambition and discipline is exactly the kind of institutional credibility that makes a barrel collaboration worth doing.
La Pulga, for its part, represents the new face of boutique tequila brands built by Americans with genuine ties to Mexican production tradition. Fort Worth may be the brand's home base, but the tequila is made the right way — in the right place, with the right agave, at the right elevation — not contract-produced to a formula and then labeled for the American market.
The Double Barrel Reposado is, in the end, a proof of concept. It demonstrates that the best cross-category barrel collaborations aren't novelty exercises. They're possible when both sides of the equation bring something meaningful to the table — when the bourbon in the barrel is actually great, when the tequila going in has genuine character of its own, and when the people behind both brands care enough to wait eleven months for the result to be right.
Tasting Expectations: What to Look For in the Glass
Given what's known about both the La Pulga highland reposado baseline and the flavor profile of Still Austin's Red Corn Bourbon, the Double Barrel Reposado should present a layered and somewhat unexpected glass. The highland agave character — fruit-forward, floral, with the slight citrus brightness from open-vat citrus yeast fermentation — will have been softened and enriched by eleven months of total barrel contact. Seven months in standard ex-bourbon Kentucky and Tennessee casks will have deposited vanilla, light caramel, and toasted oak. The final four months in freshly emptied Red Corn Bourbon barrels will have added something more specific and harder to categorize.
Think of the ancho pepper, cinnamon spice, and roasted grain character that defines Still Austin's Red Corn expression — cinnamon spice, white peppercorn, and rye spice with marzipan, leather, and a lingering nuttiness. Those are the notes most likely to have crossed over from the saturated staves into the resting tequila. Combined with the agave's natural sweetness and the residual fruity brightness of highland Blue Weber plants, the result should be a reposado that drinks more structured and savory than most — one that rewards sipping attention rather than cocktail dilution.
La Pulga describes the profile as one "where agave's natural warmth meets subtle spice and sweet red corn complexity." The key word there is "subtle." The Red Corn Bourbon barrels were not fresh off a charring rack — they had already given years of maturation to Still Austin's whiskey. The residual character they impart to the tequila is concentrated but not aggressive, layered rather than dominant. The agave doesn't disappear. It gets company.
Final Word
The La Pulga Double Barrel Reposado is a small-batch limited release from a boutique Texas tequila brand — but it carries real weight for anyone paying attention to where American craft spirits are heading. It demonstrates that the maturation revolution underway in the tequila category has room for genuine creativity, not just generic bourbon barrel aging dressed up with storytelling. It also reaffirms Still Austin's standing as a craft distillery whose barrels carry enough identity to shape another spirit entirely — which is about as high a compliment as the barrel-aging world offers.
For American whiskey drinkers who have been curious about premium tequila but haven't found the right entry point, this collaboration is worth seeking out. It doesn't ask you to abandon what you love about bourbon. It asks you to follow it, just briefly, across a different kind of border.
