Community Favorites: Popular Mezcals

Curious what your fellow Distiller users love when it comes to mezcal? These are the most popular this week!
Mar 28, 2017
  • 10
    96
    4.59
    4.59 out of 5 stars
    Fruity & Sweet
    This mezcal is distilled from 100% agave tobalá which grow semi-wild. The agave are harvested after 12 years and pit-roasted in the traditional manner. The roasted "piñas" or hearts of the agave plants are crushed using a mule-drawn tahona before the juices are open fermented. This mezcal is double-distilled and produced in Matatlan, Oaxaca by Mezcalero Gregorio Martinez Jarquin. This is released in small batches due to sustainable practices conserving the wild agave plants as well as the scarcity and size of the tobalá plants. It only grows in high altitudes in the shade of oak trees and is relatively small in size.
  • 9
    97
    4.52
    4.52 out of 5 stars
    Fruity & Sweet
    This mezcal is distilled from 100% Agave Americana -- commonly known as arroqueño -- which grow semi-wild in Miahuatlan, Oaxaca. The agave are harvested after 14 years and pit-roasted in the traditional manner. The roasted piñas are crushed using a mule-drawn tahona before the juices are open fermented. This mezcal is double-distilled and produced in small batches due to sustainable practices in conserving wild agave plants. Arroqueño is known for its enormous size and long ripening period -- as long as 30 years.
  • 8
    87
    3.68
    3.68 out of 5 stars
    Earthy
    This is the second release from El Silencio following up their Joven ensemble bottling. It is meant as more of an introductory bottling and is priced accordingly. Made from 100% espadín, this is distilled in San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca and made by Master Mescalier Pedro Hernandez. It is produced traditionally with agaves roasted in a mesquite-lined pit and the agaves are crushed by a horse-drawn tahona. Natural fermentation is allowed and the mezcal is double-distilled in copper pot stills.
  • 7
    89
    3.81
    3.81 out of 5 stars
    Herbal & Earthy
    The brand Mezcal El Silencio is named after the bar in the movie "Mulholland Drive." El Silencio Joven was released in Los Angeles in late summer of 2013. The Joven is a blend of three types of agave: mexicáno (aka rhodacantha), tobasiche (aka karwinskii), and espadín (angustifolia). It is a Oaxacan product made by Master Mezcalier Pedro Hernandez and is distilled in copper pot-stills. It is unaged and bottled at 80 proof.
  • 6
    90
    3.81
    3.81 out of 5 stars
    Herbal & Rich
    Released in the summer of 2015, this is a mezcal produced with 100% agave cupreata (aka papalote). The agaves are sourced from the slopes of the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range and distilled in the village of Mazatlán in the state of Guerrero. Natural fermentation takes place in open pine vats and this is double-distilled in a copper pot-still. Unaged, this is bottled at 86 proof.
  • 5
    93
    4.17
    4.17 out of 5 stars
    Fruity
    Rey Campero is produced in the community of Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca by mezcalero Rómulo Sánchez Parada, who is committed to agave conservation with sustainable practices. The cuishe is matured 8-10 years before harvest for this mezcal and roasted for 4-5 days. The cooked agave then rests for 5 days before being crushed by mule-pulled tahona. Fermentation occurs in the open air with wild yeast. Then it is double-distilled in a copper pot still and bottled without aging.
  • 4
    93
    4.35
    4.35 out of 5 stars
    Fruity
    Rey Campero Mexicano is produced from 100% Agave Rhodacantha harvested in pine and oak forests at high altitudes. The agaves are roasted in earthen ovens, ground in mule-powered stone mills, fermented in wooden casks and double-distilled in a copper alembic still.
  • 3
    89
    3.68
    3.68 out of 5 stars
    Earthy & Fruity
    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.
  • 2
    94
    4.32
    4.32 out of 5 stars
    Rich & Sweet
    Driving through the villages, in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico you'll come across several "palenques" or distilleries each telling a tale. The stories coming out of their stills are of a particular place: the soil, the elevation, the growing seasons, the species of agave as well as the skill and sensibilities of the mezcalero (distiller). The Del Maguey “Chichicapa" comes from the valley floor of the village of Chichicapa, made entirely from agave espadín and hand-crafted by Faustino Garcia Vasquez.
  • 1
    90
    4.16
    4.16 out of 5 stars
    Earthy & Smoky
    This 100% tobalá agave mezcal produced in the state of Oaxaca. The tobalá maguey is found growing wild in the highest altitude canyons in the rocky soil beneath oak trees. It is smaller and broader leafed than the other agave used for mezcal and takes about eight tobalá piñas (agave hearts) to equal one piña from the more commonly propagated and cultivated magueys. Produced in the traditional manner by open-vat fermentation, adding the fibers along with the fermented juice (agaumiel) to the copper pot-still. This mezcal is unaged and bottled at 94 proof.