Everything You Need to Know About Mezcal

For a truly authentic mezcal, we love Acre Mezcal. Acre, an award-winning hotel, bar, and restaurant located in the foothills of San José del Cabo, created this delicious spirit. Mezcalero (the name given to the distiller of mezcal) Honorato Cruz and his family, who come from the Zapotec village of Santa Ana del Río, Oaxaca, produce its mezcals. The mezcal uses two rare agave plants — tobalá and tepeztate — which impart a sweetness to the expressions. Acre Mezcal uses traditional production methods to create mezcals from four different types of agave: espadín, cenizo, tobalá, and tepeztate. 

In 2018, the billion-dollar tequila company Casamigos added Mezcal Joven to its extensive portfolio. A fifth-generation mezcal-producing family brought it to Casamigos founders George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman, who loved it and added it to their portfolio. It’s a small-batch mezcal with notes of black pepper, which gives the spirit a subtly smoky taste that’s not too overpowering and leads to a long, silky finish. 

A new name on the tequila and mezcal scene, Lobos 1707 made quite a splash once Lebron James came on board as an investor. Its Artesanal Mezcal comes in a sleek bottle, but the presentation isn’t the only thing this spirit has going for it. It ages in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks from Spain, an unusual choice. The result is a bold, spicy, and smoky flavor. Lobos means “wolves” in Spanish, and the company donates a portion of its proceeds to wolf sanctuaries.

This unique consortium of top mezcal distilleries near Oaxaca began in 2010, and in 2019, it released a lovely collection of 16 mezcals, each produced by a different family. Each expression is a reflection of the family and region it comes from. You can find some made from tobalá, the rarest agave, which produces a fruity nose. There are also special releases with semi-wild arroqueño agave, which can take up to 30 years to reach maturity. Every bottle includes tasting notes, as well as information about the family that created the expression. 

Clase Azul produces its Mezcal Guerrero in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It pays tribute to the state’s culture, landscapes, gastronomy, and art, as well as the strength of its women. The mezcal comes in a gorgeous jade-green decanter handcrafted by local artisans. Clase Azul uses a rare variety of agave — the papalote agave — which grows wild in the mountains of Guerrero. This unique agave gives the mezcal flavors of wood, lemon, and pepper alongside light tobacco notes. 

Breaking Bad acting duo Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul created Dos Hombres with a third-generation mezcalero in 2019. Since then, it has won many prestigious awards. They make the limited-edition Tobalá Mezcal from 25-year-old tobalá agave plants, which come from the sacred Copal trees in the region of San Luis del Rio, Oaxaca. Traditionally, villagers use the resin from the Copal trees to bless and purify the land. They cook the agave in underground pit ovens, then mill the cooked agave with a horse-drawn tahona (a large stone wheel). Next, they ferment it with mountain spring water. Finally, they double-distill it in copper stills. This spirit has lovely notes of plums, chocolate, and lilies. If you want a fruitier mezcal, the brand’s espadín blend presents a bright fragrance reminiscent of freshly cut orange slices and other citrus.

Pierde Almas Tobaziche is an artisanal mezcal created with the wild maguey tobaziche agave, a member of the karwinskii agave family. Produced by skilled maestro mezcalero Agapito Hernandez in San Baltazar, its flavor is exquisite, with a sweet bite and hints of wet clay, as well as the aromas of the fresh agave plant and notes of cedar. The Pierde Almas brand runs a wild agave reforestation program, as well as other sustainability initiatives.

Brothers Eduardo and Julio Mestre founded Los Siete Misterios in 2010 with a mission to spread the Mexican tradition of drinking mezcal on a global scale. It’s one of the first brands to bring clay-pot-distilled mezcal to the United States and beyond, making it a pioneer in the industry. The Ensambles Cuishe mezcal is one of its most popular artisanal blends. It’s distilled from cuishe agave, which has a long, vertical stem with leaves that sprout from the top rather than the heart, like traditional agave. This variety of agave imparts herbal notes to the mezcal, giving it an earthy character. Los Siete Misterios uses traditional methods to produce this blend, such as cooking the agave in underground ovens, milling it with wooden mallets, and, of course, distilling it in clay pots.

Convite Mezcal was also established by a brother duo, Cosme and Daniel Hernández, who are sixth-generation distillers. The word convite means “invitation to feast” in Oaxacan, inspiring the name of this brand. Its production occurs in the mountains of San Baltazar Guelavila in Oaxaca, where wild agave is double-distilled in copper stills. This mezcal uses a blend of espandín agave that’s matured for at least eight years and madrecuishe agave previously aged for 13 years. Ultimately, this marriage yields delightful flavors such as citrus and cocoa with a cedar wood finish. 

This brand’s name is derived from the region of Dohba, Oaxaca, where it produces its ultra-premium mezcal blends. In particular, it produces Dohba Mezcal Mexicano by cooking agave that has matured between nine and 12 years in volcanic stone ovens before fermenting it in oak vats. Then, it distills the fermented agave in copper kettles, which softens its texture. All its blends are housed in stunning handblown bottles made from 100% recycled glass, each sealed with natural waxes or resins that give them an even more refined appearance.