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After much consideration, the judges agreed to award the coveted Taste Master title to Sierra Milenario Tequila Extra Añejo. Pushing the boundaries Then in one of those events of the MSC, I met the people from Corona Beer, the Mexican lager, right? The most popular Mexican beer. They invited me to work with them, to collaborate with them in the promotion team. I started working with Corona, doing promotions. I’m talking about six months later. So, I stayed another six months. I was having fun. Why not? Eduardo: I would drink it at El Ganzo Hotel in Los Cabos. I mean, I would love to be right now at the El Ganzo Hotel in Los Cabos, drinking that Tommy’s Mezcal Margarita. If it’s not in Mexico and I’m in London, it could be in any of the good Mexican restaurants like Chingón, Santo Remedio, having a Tommy’s Mezcal Margarita. Eight Gold medals were also enjoyed in this round. Among the Gold winners were: “vibrant, delicious” El Tequileño Cristalino; “nicely balanced” Teremana Reposado, with “green peppers on the finish”; and “unusual, distinct” Vivir Tequila Reposado, which boasted “vanilla notes and Bourbon barrel influence”. Before distillation came to Mexico, native Mexicans used to drink a fermented juice from the agave plant. The agave plant is this beautiful, big plant that grows across Mexico. The fermented juices are called pulque. It comes to around 5 to 7% like beer. The name mezcal comes from the Nahuatl. Mezcal is an agave spirit made from any type of mezcal and that’s the best and the biggest difference with the tequila.
Hermoso agrees the considerations are not only practical, but could impact how the category is perceived. “Vast industrialisation of mezcal would mean more competition on price to gain share but could also impact the perception of mezcal as the ‘craft spirit of Mexico’, opening the door to other Mexican spirits such as raicilla, bacanora, or sotol.” Aaran Paul and Bryan Cranston founded Dos Hombres mezcal More generally, when comparing the category with Tequila, mezcal has a few advantages, which will serve it well as it continues to grow. Hermoso says: “Price per kilo for agave for mezcal remains far lower than for Tequila, and the fact that mezcal can come from different Mexican states and from different agave species, as opposed to only Blue Weber for Tequila, gives mezcal an edge of flexibility compared with the much larger Tequila category.” Eduardo: Actually, the one that you have is even more traditional than this one. This one is quite pretentious. I will say
It’s exactly the same way with mezcal, depending on the agave plant and depending on the climate conditions and the soil and the humidity of the land, the juice, this spirit that you’re going to get out of it will be completely different. Eduardo: Even Blanco tequila, for instance, that is very popular nowadays in the US and in the UK. In Mexico, 70% of consumption of the tequila is Reposado. If you go to a house, to a reunion, you don’t bring a bottle of Tequila Blanco, nor do you spend too much on Anejo. Right? People always get a bottle of Reposado and also the Reposado is softer than Blanco. Right. And we drink it in Palomas, which is tequila reposado, lime juice, grapefruit soda and a bit of salt, that’s it? Tanner remained equally enthused about agave‐based spirits. He added: “I think we’ll see, perhaps like gin, in a year or two there will be a more ‘contemporary’ Tequila category with different barrel finishes and a more experimental level.
The opening flight of Mixto Tequila – Blanco delivered a set of Silver medals for El Sueño Tequila Silver and Sierra Tequila Silver. El Sueño Tequila Silver was “light and bright” on the nose, with “delicate citrus and a peppery palate”. Sierra Tequila Silver had a “slight nuttiness”, but was found to be “what you’d expect” from a mixto blanco – “solid”, noted one judge. Another brand with a plan is Bruxo. “We have a long‐term vision for supporting the growth of our business and practices,” says European brand manager Anne‐Sophie Vacher. “We insist that all of our artisanal production processes are preserved, and that we continue in a sustainable path.” Eduardo: It was a 100% agave. The category or the CRT, the regulatory consul of tequila, created the mixto pretty much to cope with the demand in America. So, in Mexico, we drank 100% agave. There would be some mixtos in the supermarket, but we will know all the mixes went off to America. Susan: So, was it more a mixto that you were drinking? Or were you always, oh, it has to be a 100% agave? I mean, was there a kind of, not the snobbery, but just more of a knowledge even then about the difference in Mexico. They also use in Mexico clay pots. In Oaxaca, they cook with clay. The problem with clay, little cups is that it absorbs some mezcal, right? The clay takes it. So, if you have a very expensive mezcal and then you sip it twice and then it’s empty, it’s very upsetting. It has happened to me many times. So, the best way to drink mezcal is always neat, straight up.The process begins by cooking the hearts of the agave for up to 10 days in anunderground ovenusing local oak wood. The cooked hearts are then crushed with atahonapulled bythe estate’s donkey chicharito and Salmiana actually is the agave that we used to make pulque. It’s a massive, massive, agave plant with leaves the size of your screen. It’s popularly called verde or green because the notes, when you drink or smell it, are like fresh jalapenos, spinach, kale, asparagus, you know, super, super green. So, my mezcal is from Oaxaca, the two that I have right now. That was because of the experience of those multiple trips that I did to Oaxaca for business. Susan: Did you know the flavor that you wanted to have immediately? Was it difficult to get that or were they already producing it? The twist on a Margarita, the Mezcalita, is a great introduction to mezcal as it’s a familiar flavour profile that lets the smokiness of the mezcal shine through without being overpowering.
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