Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-05-04)

Tequila tends to command plenty of excitement this time of

year, though American drinkers don’t limit their enthusiasm

to Cinco de Mayo: The U.S. imports more of Mexico’s national

liquor than any other country. Since 2002 the volume of con-

sumption has swelled 158%, according to the Distilled Spirits

Council of the U.S., to 20 million 9-liter cases last year. That’s

a lot of margaritas.

But many Americans have been thirsting for something

more. I began exploring smoky mezcal around the start of

the last decade, and by the late 2010s I happily watched as the

liquidcommodityofOaxacamadeitswayintothemainstream.

Fullerinflavorandlessindustrialthanitstequilacounter-

parts,it seemedcustom-builtfortheconnoisseur.Now,even

thatonce-esotericliquorrunstheriskofbecomingpasséwith

newlytrendingcategoriesofagavedistillatesyoumayhave

neverheardof,letalonesipped.Theyencompassa widerange

offlavorprofiles,spanningmetallictomarzipan,cilantroto

smokedmeat.Opena fewofthesebottles,andyou’llinvigo-

rateyoursenseswhileelevatingyourhomebar.

Technically anyagave-basedspirit—eventequila—is a

mezcal.(Thenamederiv f h h l d i i

or“cookedagave.”)Bu

orChampagneis tobub

nacióndeorigenlimitsm

cificregions(nownine

cancomefromanyva

plant.Tequila,grantedi

canbemadeonlyfrom

lanaWebervar.azul, aka

blueagave.

Raicilla,Mexico’snew

estDO-protectedspirit

of June 2019,hails m

fromthesouthwesternp

Jalisco,suchasPuerto

andcanexudea slightly

itimeterroir. Thedesig

new,productionmethod

backcenturiesarestillb

Fourtypesofspikyagav

debatingif thereshould )

Theirhearts,orpiñas, areroastedinwood-burningclayovens

orsunkenpitsbeforespontaneousfermentationinsmallvats—

stone,plastic,orotherwise.Unlikemezcal,whichis distilled

twice,theresultingliquidis oftendistilledonlyonce.

WhenregulatorybodiessolidifytheraicillaDO,expect

a boom,saysClaytonSzczech,anagavespiritsspecialistin

MexicoCity:“Theregionis incloseproximitytoGuadalajara

anditsexistinglargespiritscompanies.”Inthemeantime,

getyourhandsonMezonteRaicillaJapo($170).It’sa curi-

ouslysavorysipwithnotesofpancettaandcotijacheeseand

anherb-gardenfinish.LaVenenosa—abrandthathasseven

expressions,eachsourcedfroma distinctsubregion—ismore

affordable;theblack-labeledSierraOccidental($65)bristles

withcitrus,blackpepper,anda pronouncedacidity.

Bacanora, outlawed as moonshine for much of the 20th cen-

tury because of a regional prohibition, was granted a DO in

2000. Made from only Agave Pacifica (A.  angustifolia) in
      Sonora, which borders Arizona and the Gulf of California, its
      desert provenance lends drier, often less smoky notes. (The
      piñas don’t need to be cooked in a pit before pressing; some
      producers use autoclaves or boilers.) The adventurous will
      want to seek out complex Rancho Tepua ($65) or Yoowe ($70),
      which adds a faint salinity to the minty, almost tinny fray.
      Then there’s sotol, which a gringo could be forgiven for
      thinkingisalsoa mezcal.“Modernbiologyhastaughtus
      thatthesotoles—genusDasylirion—arenot,infact,agaves,”
      Szczechsaysofthespindly“desertspoon”shrub.Sotol
      “canbemadefrommanydifferentspeciesofDasylirion,
      anddifferencesintastebetweendesertandforestcanbe
      quitedramatic.”Itsgentlesmokyfinishcomesfromvari-
      ouswoods—acacia,mesquite,oak—usedtoroasttheplantin
      thenorthernregionsofChihuahua,Durango,andCoahuila.
      (ThereareevensomeunofficialTexanversions.)A goodstart
      is FabriqueroSotolDurango($70),a 90-proofspiritwitha
      f ll b d d h f i l f i balancingthesmol-
      you’rereadytodig
      single-speciesbot-
      5 to$48).Identical
      s meanyoucaniso-
      e differencesamong
      rietals bysipping
      e byside.
      ealthofrawmaterial
      e geographicalarea
      rovenance] could
      sotolthenextbig
      Szczechsays.I’ve
      intsofcuredham,
      lk,andcampfiresin
      ps.Thesesortsoffla-
      d head-scratchingto
      er—tastingnotesthat
      arning.Toanyagave
      theyreadmorelike
      p 

62

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY 731; PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (AGAVE); COURTESY COMPANIES (BOTTLES)

CRITIC Bloomberg Pursuits May 4, 2020

There’s a world waiting beyond

tequila and mezcal

By Brad Japhe

Agave Keeps

On Giving

vesfromtheNahuatlwordsmetlixcalli,

tlikeScotchistowhiskey,

bbly, a 199 4 denomi-

mezcaltospe-

e), thoughit

rietyofthe

its DOin’74,

mAgave tequi-

a

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ainly

partsof

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ds thatstretch

beingcodified:

ve(producersare

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fullbodyandanecho oftropicalfruitb

dering notesatitscore.Wheny

deeper,graballthree

tlesofLaHiguera($3

productiontechniques

latethediscernible

sotol var

themside

“Thewe

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make

thing,”

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curdledmil

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enthusiast,however,

a promisethanathreat.