Mezcal styles/classes
In addition to the three classifications according to production methods and equipment, there are different styles and classes of mezcal depending on whether it is matured, blended or flavoured.
Joven (or blanco)
Mezcal is usually joven, accounting for over 95% of all mezcal sales. Joven means "young" in Spanish, and joven (or blanco) mezcal are bottled without any maturation period, so they are colourless and translucent.
Since mezcal became fashionable and developed in export markets, some mezcal brands have mimicked tequila by producing oak-aged expressions (reposado, añejo, extra añejo and cristalino). However, besides a community in Michoacán, it is not traditional to mature mezcal in oak casks.
Classes of aged mezcal
Reposado (& Madurato) - Reposado means "rested" in Spanish and to be labelled as such a mezcal must be rested in oak casks for a minimum of two months but less than 12 months. This period of wood maturation impacts the flavour of the mezcal and imparts a gold-amber colour.
Añejo - Añejo means "aged" in Spanish, and añejo mezcals must be aged in oak casks (max 1,000 litres capacity) for a minimum of 12 months, a maturation process that imparts flavour and colour from the wood.
Extra Añejo - Literally meaning extra aged, this classification was established for tequila in 2006 by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila, and no such official classification for mezcal has yet been introduced. This has not stopped a few brands from producing and marketing extra añejo mezcal that, as with extra añejo tequila, has been matured in oak casks for three years or more.
Cristalino - Cristalino mezcals are cask-aged mezcals filtered through charcoal to remove the colour imparted by the ageing process. (Don Julio launched the first cristalino tequila at the end of 2011, and as cristalino tequilas have become fashionable, inevitably cristalino mezcals have emerged.)
Madurado en Vidrio (matured in glass) - Madurado means "matured", and 'en Vidrio' means "in glass" in Spanish, and this classification is for mezcal aged in glass vessels for at least 12 months (no oak maturation period). The glass vessels containing the maturing mezcal may be buried underground or placed in situations with little variation in light, temperature or humidity. The label of glass matured mezcals usually states the maturation period.
100% agave mezcal versus mixto mezcal
In a perfect world, all mezcals would be distilled from 100% fermented agave sugars, but mixto mezcal made with at least 80% agave sugars augmented with other sugars, usually cane sugar, is permitted. (This is a step up from mixto tequila, which can be made with just 51% agave sugars.) Please seek 100% agave mezcals.
Destilado con mezcals (flavoured during distillation)
Destilado Con means "distilled with" in Spanish, and this term refers to mezcals where the second distillation, or third additional distillation, has something placed in the still to flavour the mezcal. Pechuga is the term given to mezcals distilled with a whole raw chicken or turkey breast hug in the top of the pot before distillation, but fruit (e.g. apples, bananas, pineapples, plantains, plums) and spices are often also added.
Abocado mezcals (flavoured after distillation)
Abocado Con is a term for mezcals that have been infused or flavoured after distillation. Mezcals bottled with a gusano larva are abocado con gusano, and other traditional infusions include fruits, herbs, spices, nuts and other botanicals, as well as scorpions.
Ensamble mezcals
Traditionally, mezcalero would use whatever mature agave was available, and that often meant more than one variety of agave piñas being cooked, fermented and distilled in the same batch. Mezcal made with two or more different agave species are called ensambles, and while these are still made, the fashion for single-agave variety mezcal, coupled with different agave varieties suiting different cooking times, means ensamble mezcals are now rarely made.
Blended mezcals
Not to be confused with ensamble mezcals, blended mezcals are the result of separate distillates being mixed together to produce a blended mezcal. The distillates that comprise a blended mezcal may be distilled months or years apart from each other and from the same or different varieties of agave.
Capón mezcals
When agave plants reach maturity, they grow a tall flowering stalk called a quiote, which can reach six meters (20 feet) tall. Growing a quiote drains the plant of energy and is the last reproductive step before the plant dies. If this process is left unchecked, the agave's piña will not produce the sugars needed for fermentation and so mezcal production. However, if the stalk is chopped off (capón means "castrated" in Spanish), the plant's resources are concentrated back into the piña. Capón mezcals are made from agave that has grown a quiote that has been cut off.
