Cinco de Mayo is not the moment for extra añejo tequila. While plenty of the agave spirit from Jalisco, Mexico, will flow on May 5, in cheap margaritas and shots, the bottles classified as extra añejo — which by Mexican law must be aged more than three years — will mostly stay on the top shelf of the bar, awaiting another day.

That’s because extra añejo is tequila’s big stretch into the heady world of high-end brown spirits, an unabashedly flashy space crowded with Cognac in shiny crystal decanters, expensive decades-old Scotch and impossible-to-find single-cask bourbon.

The popularity of long-aged agave spirits is a recent phenomenon, so it’s perhaps no surprise to find these arriviste tequilas aping the packaging and storytelling of whiskey or brandy, focusing on rarity and age and high prices. You’ll find extra añejo bottled flamboyantly, adorned with ribbons, strings, wax seals and medallions, and sold in boxes that are gold-trimmed, leather-encased or faux-velvet-lined. Many sell for more than $100, and some for much more.

But some spirits aficionados view all this flash with skepticism, and say the quality of the tequilas doesn’t always measure up to the expense and hype.