What is mezcal?
Words by Simon Difford
The name mezcal originates from the Aztec language and refers to a traditional Mexican spirit made from the Agave plant, known as Maguey in the Aztec language Nahuatl.
While tequila is mainly distilled in and around the northern state of Jalisco, mezcal production is most identified with the southern state of Oaxaca (pronounced 'Wo-Ha-Ka') and the neighbouring states of Guerrero and Puebla. However, mezcal is also produced in Michoacán, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas (four states neighbouring Jalisco), the eastern state of Tamaulipas, and as far north as Durango.
Mezcal is distilled from the fermented juice and flesh of the Maguey, a member of the Agave family of succulents that have been cultivated in Mexico for millennia. Long before the Spanish Conquistadors of Cortez arrived, the maguey was an integral part of the culture of the Indians of Mexico. They fermented a beverage called pulque, a sweet beer-like drink considered sacred under the protection of Mayahuel, the Aztec goddess of the maguey plant. Although pulque was drunk at religious ceremonies, drunkenness was frowned upon and could be punished by death.
Distilling of mezcal started during the 16th century when the Spanish began distilling juice derived from cooking the heart of the maguey plant. Although the Spaniards banned the Indians from producing mezcal, they soon learned the technique and used vessels of baked clay instead of copper.
Mezcal production is traditionally small-scale and artisanal and although there are now large mezcal distillers operating on an industrial scale, many distillers continue to make just a few hundred bottles at a time using small traditional stills, some still made of clay. Unlike tequila, products labelled mezcal can only be exported in bottles and not in bulk. (The maximum export container size for mezcal is 5-litres.)
