Mezcal

Mezcal is a Mexican agave spirit, and tequila is its best-known relative. What most people mean by the word is the smoky, small-batch style from Oaxaca, made from agave roasted in an earthen pit and distilled in copper or clay. It is more variable than tequila and often more interesting, which is the reason to pay attention to the label.

What mezcal is made from

Mezcal can be made from more than 30 agave species, and any agave not reserved for another denomination of origin is allowed. Espadín is the workhorse; Del Maguey Vida, Montelobos and Ilegal are all espadín. Wild species such as tobalá are scarcer and costlier. The plant takes years to mature, and that long wait is a large part of the price.

How mezcal is made

The hearts of the agave are cooked, traditionally in a stone-lined pit over hot rocks and covered with earth, which is where the smoke comes from. They are then crushed, often with a stone tahona, fermented, and distilled twice in a pot still. Some producers go further: Vago Elote adds roasted corn to the still. Pit roasting is not universal in the category; the plainest industrial mezcal uses autoclaves, ovens and column stills, and tastes much closer to tequila.

What the law requires

Mezcal is regulated under Mexico’s NOM-070-SCFI standard, and the US recognises it as a distinctive product of Mexico in 27 CFR 5.148. It must be produced in the designated denomination-of-origin states and certified by the Consejo Regulador del Mezcal. The standard recognises three categories: mezcal, mezcal artesanal and mezcal ancestral. Artisanal and ancestral are made with traditional methods, and ancestral is the strictest, requiring pit cooking and traditional stills. Most certified mezcal falls under artesanal.

Types of mezcal

Joven is unaged and by far the most common. Reposado is rested in wood for at least two months, and añejo for a year or more. Abocado mezcal is flavoured with ingredients such as honey, damiana or fruit, which is different from the infused or “pechuga” styles where meat, fruit or herbs go into a later distillation.

Calories and sugar

A 1.5 oz pour of 40% mezcal is about 97 kcal, all from ethanol, and unflavoured joven has effectively no sugar. Sugar is a flavouring question, not a production one: abocado and flavoured bottles are the only ones likely to add it. See the healthiest mezcal for bottle-level detail, and the gluten-free mezcal page for base ingredients.

Mezcal and tequila

The two are close relatives. Tequila uses only blue Weber agave; mezcal uses many species and is more often pit-roasted and pot-distilled. We lay out the differences in tequila vs mezcal.

What it means for hangovers

Mezcal scores a 5 on the hangover index: moderate congeners, low histamines, very low sugar and additives. The higher congener load comes from pot distillation and the smoke compounds from pit roasting. It also tends to be sold at higher strengths, and some bottles run to 50% or more, so a standard pour carries more alcohol than it looks. Sip it slowly. It is the cleaner choice among the character-heavy spirits, but it is not a clean spirit.