Mescal and Tequila

There are eight varieties of the maguey plant all of which are used to make mescal, a small-scale artisanal product. Tequila a variety of mescal only permits the use of blue agave maguey exclusively. The process of production is essentially the same with tequila production being much larger in scale. It takes about seven years for the maguey plant to mature and be harvested. The leaves are trimmed off leaving only the “pineapple”. The pineapple is split into quarters and left to dry for about two weeks. The pineapple is then crushed under a millwheel to create fibers, which are then placed in a large barrel with water and allowed to ferment for about two more weeks. The mash is drawn off and distilled in copper kettles producing raw mescal (this is the real porch-climber stuff ) and then aged in barrels, blended etc. While this producer had dozens of crema or flavoured mescals and a respadado the distillery’s 3 year old anejo (aged) mescal reminded me of a very smoky peaty scotch. Worm negotiable.