5 Must-Try Mezcals

One of the few mezcals that are both organic and biodynamic. Fidencio Clásico is made using 100% espadín agave from Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca. The agaves are roasted for three days in a traditional method using a stone-lined earthen pit. Fermented using ambient yeast and twice-distilled using an old cognac-style still.

Pierde Almas creates their Pechuga every November by taking their Espadín mezcal to the next level with a third distillation. The most notable step is hanging a turkey breast in the still, a variation on the traditional chicken breast. Before the third distillation, the mezcal is infused with a variety of wild fruits, herbs and nuts, such as apples, pineapples, almonds, pecans, citrus blossoms and anise.

Miel de Tierra mezcals hail from Zacatecas, a state in Mexico, which is much farther north than the center of mezcal production in Oaxaca. The line seeks to show more elegant and earthy flavors than the typical smoky and wild examples from the south. Notably, Miel de Tierra Joven Agave Salmiana is the only one in the portfolio to feature agaves from outside of the distillery’s home. The wild Salmiana variety used is found to the east in the San Luis Potosi region. Most of their mezcals feature aging in local, virgin oak, but this is joven is not aged.

Florencio Carlos Sarmiento and his sons handcraft this mezcal in the village of Santa Catarina Minas. And when we say handcraft, we mean it. After the agave roasts in the ground, they are removed and crushed by hand using a large wooden mallets. After natural, wild fermentation, it is distilled in a clay pot still. This 100% espadín agave is bottled, unaged at 98 proof.

Crafted by Aquilino García López, the wild-harvested tobalá used here is sourced from the Highlands near the source of the Quichapa River, at an elevation averaging around 6000 feet. Like all Aquilino's mezcals, Vago Tobalá is crafted in the traditional method at his palenque in Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca. This includes earthen-ovens for cooking the agaves, pinewood fermentation-vats, and a 200-liter copper-still. The mezcal is rested in inert steel tanks for three months before being bottled -- by hand, of course!