Mezcal and Mexican Whiskey You'll Want in Your Flask This Summer
These Mexican spirits will delight the geeks and intrigue the newbies
I seem to be beginning most of my articles by stating how much I miss bars, but the thing is: I really miss bars. It’s not only the “third place” aspect of them—the refuge away from home—it’s also the education I’ve gleaned from visiting some of them. It’s comforting to enjoy familiar libations at a good watering hole, but something I also dearly miss are the spontaneous occasions when a bartender presents me with a new spirit I have tasted yet.
I’ve especially come to miss delicious discoveries from Mexico, tasted in a bars with fun curated collections. In New York City where I live, places like these would be The Cabinet or Ghost Donkey in Manhattan, and Leyenda and Chavelas in Brooklyn, and so many others with exciting under-the-radar bottles on the shelves to taste from. I love tequila, all kinds of tequila, but I also miss tasting other exciting spirits from Mexico.
I recently chatted with my friend Arik Toren, founder of Fidencio Mezcal, who has the same gauge as me for assessing an unfamiliar liquor: it has to pass the “would you put it in a flask?” test to be successful. Arik in recent years has greatly expanded his import company Fidencio Spirits to include various expressions of Fidencio and Derrumbes mezcals (including an awesome annual limited edition Pechuga!), as well as ranges of Rancho Tepúa Bacanora, La Venenosa Raicilla, and La Higuera Sotol.
It seems others share my Mexican spirits bar withdrawal. Arik tells me that during lockdown, he’s received requests to bottle some of his specialty spirits to cater to customers who have the means to purchase rare limited editions, such as Los Gigantes—an upcoming limited edition of La Venenosa Raicilla made from rather large maguey, as the name suggests, harvested from a special parcel of land, as well as a 20 Year old Azul aged in glass.
These are going to be harder to come by, but worth seeking out. Meantime, here are some other cool drops out of Mexico I’ve had the pleasure of sampling while in lockdown. I’d be happy to have any of these in my flask all summer long.
Corn Whiskey
In the states, corn is one of the most important agricultural industries, and also one of the most controversial, since so much of it has been genetically modified (GMO) for commercial consumption. In Mexico, what is known as “ancestral corn” refers to heirloom varieties that have been cultivated for thousands of years, without pesticides or any other sort of human tampering, and Mexicans regard these crops with an almost religious reverence.
Both Sierra Norte and Pierde Almas have released whiskeys in the past few years that are predominantly made from Mexican heirloom corn varieties mixed with a smaller percentage of malted barley.
More recently, Destileria Abasolo released Nixta Licor de Elote, a corn liqueur, and Abasolo, its first whisky made with 100% ancestral Mexican corn. To produce both products, the corn goes through a process called nixtamalization (akin to polishing rice for sake or malting barley for single malts) wherein it is washed, soaked and cooked in a lime bath, then washed again and hulled in order to release intensity of flavor within the kernels. It took me a minute to appreciate the toasty corn Cracker Jacks-like flavor of the whiskey, but then upon further sipping, more unique, nuanced, herbal notes came through—totally flask-worthy! I have come to enjoy the whisky in summer highballs because the carbonation from soda water seems to bring out even more of its personality, and it’s a great base for sours. Now through August, 100% of Abasolo sales support Another Round, Another Rally and other charities benefiting the hospitality industry affected by Covid-19. ( the whisky is 43% ABV, $40)
New mezcal: a tale of two completely different Espadíns
Unlike tequila, which can only be made using one species of agave, Blue Weber (a.k.a. Weber Azul or Agave Tequilana), mezcal can be produced from a variety of agave species, as long as it is grown and harvested within the mezcal zone that includes Oaxaca, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacan, and/or Puebla. Espadín is perhaps the most commonly used agave varietal because it is the most adaptable to a variety of growing conditions. An Espadín release is generally a good way to make the acquaintance of a new mezcal brand range since its flavors and smokiness/funk level can vary so much depending on where and how it was grown, and how the mezcalero decides to process and distill it.
Convite is a brand founded in 2013 by Oaxacan-born economist Jorge Vera that is newly available in the states. The name is a colloquialism that means “invitation to feast”, which makes sense, as this Espadín expression is one that wakes up the palate with its grapefruit-citrusy and savory green vegetal (green peppers, asparagus, spring onion) notes, balanced by black olives, earthy, bittersweet chocolate and medium smoke. I enjoy it neat, but I’m also thinking of trying it in a savory cocktail like a Gibson variation or Bloody Mary. (40% ABV, $45)
Doña Vega was co-founded by Sonya Auvray, who was introduced to the world mezcal by a friend, and and became so obsessed with them that she decided to bottle her own brand. While visiting a number of distilleries, she eventually tasted a spirit with the approachable, balanced flavors she was seeking, and it just happened to come from a women-run, organic distillery. Having left a successful career in marketing, she got the idea to trademark the tilde (“~”) accent in the name with the catchphrase “put a tilde on it”--meaning (I guess?) that it brings a festive element to whatever the occasion to sip it may be. “Mezcal should be playful,” says Auvray. I was all set to be skeptical about this one. Great mezcal should just be great on its own accord without the marketing tricks, but you know, it’s pretty dang good. Its citrusy notes lean more in the orange spectrum, with only a subtle herbaciousness, and an almost creamy, chocolatey finish. (43% ABV, $45)