The Top Five Añejo Mezcal Bottles

The flagship of the Miel de Tierra line, this mezcal shows a long maturation in virgin local oak from the distillery’s home region of Zacatecas in north central Mexico. The agaves crafted here are not smoked and show a much more stately character to the wild, smoky spirits made further south in Oaxaca.

Made from tobalá agave hearts or piñas grown on the estate, this mezcal is double-distilled and then matured in French oak barrels for a minimum of three years in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. If you are looking for an unusual, yet elegant pairing for a cigar, this would be an excellent choice.

Ilegal Mezcal started as a spirit that was smuggled from Mexico to Guatemala by John Rexer and shared among friends at a tiny bar called Café No Sé. The (now perfectly legit) Añejo is a 100% agave mezcal. It is double-distilled from espadín agave and aged for 13 months in a combination of new and used American oak with a medium char. Each bottle is hand corked, labeled and numbered. (SRP $97.99)

Espíritu Lauro uses a blend of 70% wild Espadín and 30% Karwinskii of San Martín agave that is aged 6 - 8 years before harvesting, and left to ferment naturally without the use of yeast. This añejo is aged 13 months in used Jack Daniels barrels that are charred and scraped before maturing the distillate.

Don Amado is a heritage distillery citing 11 generations of mezcal production in Mexico’s Oaxaca region. The agave hearts are gently roasted in the earth before being double distilled in traditional ceramic bamboo pots. Perhaps most notable is that the resulting spirit spends 18 months in ex-Pedro Domecq brandy casks — the producer of Mexico’s most celebrated brandy and an incredibly popular brand nationally.