Reposado
Reposado
What is Mezcal?
While Tequila is without a doubt Mexico’s most famous export, there’s an argument to be made that the real national drink is mezcal. This traditional agave spirit has been enjoyed by people at all levels of Mexican society for generations – starting when the first pot stills arrived from Europe and were put to work distilling the local agave wine. Though it is often defined as smoky in character, mezcal is one of the most diverse spirits on earth, ranging in style from delicate and tropical to robust and earthy.
The Land
Though it varies tremendously in flavour, mezcal tends to be a little more rustic than Tequila. It is made in distilleries across nine Mexican states, many of which use traditional methods and equipment with few concessions to modern technology. As a result, mezcal can offer us a clear connection to the people that made it, the types of agave plant they have used and their origins in the fertile Mexican soil. Perhaps more than any other spirit, mezcal comes with a sense of place.
The Raw Materials
While Tequila can only legally be made with one species of agave, mezcal producers regularly use more than 30 varieties, each one deriving its character from particular combinations of landscape and climate. It can take a decade or more for the agaves to reach maturity, at which point they are harvested and roasted to develop the sugars within. Traditionally, this takes place in wood burning ovens or pits known as hornos where many mezcals acquire their distinctive smokiness.
Distillation
While the world’s increasing thirst for mezcal has given rise to large industrial distilleries, many producers still work on a small scale with pot stills made of copper or clay. The roasted agave hearts are crushed to release their juice which is then fermented until it reaches an alcohol content of about 5-10%. Producers then twice distil this cane wine – or mosto – to create mezcal. In their purest form, these spirits are a perfect synthesis of the terroir, the agave and the craft of the mezcalero.
Ageing
Mezcal has been enjoyed un-aged for centuries and most producers release their creations after only a short period of resting in clay or glass. However, recent years have seen some brands importing casks to create aged expressions like those pioneered by the Tequila industry. We are now able to see how these ancestral spirits evolve during oak ageing thanks to the arrival of reposado and añejo mezcals on our shelves. An exciting new chapter for this traditional Mexican spirit.
How to Drink Mezcal
It’s perhaps useful to think of mezcal like a single malt whisky or Cognac, filled with complexity and worth taking your time over. As such a tasting glass and some like-minded friends are all you really need to enjoy it. That said, mezcal’s intense character has made it a hit with bartenders the world over who have incorporated it into riffs on classic drinks like the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan. Try substituting your favourite mezcal for the gin in your Negroni, you’ll never look back.