Mezcal's Mysteries

There are two big myths about mezcal, the distilled pride of Oaxaca. The first is that a mezcal bottle contains a worm. (This is true only of the low-grade, mass-produced mezcals, which use the worm as a marketing gimmick.) A second myth is that mezcal is a less-refined version of tequila. Quite the contrary: while tequila is only distilled from the blue agave plant, cooked in steam chambers, and generally made in industrial-sized batches, mezcal is made from dozens of varieties of agave, roasted over a wood fire in a traditional earth pit, distilled, and usually made in small quantities by small producers. The result is a soft, smoky, and complex liquor—one meant to be slowly sipped and savored. Mezcal is an elixir whose renown has been impeded only by the industry's almost comical disorganization and lack of marketing savvy.

To further complicate things, a 2005 law passed by the Mexican government imposed a set of standards on mezcal production for the first time, including the certification process aimed at controlling quality. The law's intent was to weed out the imposters that mixed their product with cane alcohol, but the side effect of the new bureaucratic requirements has been to impose considerable new costs on producers, reducing quantities, and raising prices. That said, you now know just what you're getting when you see a certified reposado (aged 2 months-1 year in oak barrels), añejo (aged 1-3 years), and extrañejo (aged more than 3 years). Some are aged even more than that, like the 10-year-old Joya, which you find at stores in the region.