Coming back to this as an update, but IMHO a very smoky mezcal works best here. For the first time I used Montelobos and the second time I used Lopez Real. They are both great, but the Montelobos has a very smoky flavor that balances very nicely with the angostura bitters, while the Lopez Real felt a little one dimensional.
I tried again with the Trader Joe's mezcal (tolerable for $22USD), upped to 55ml, and 25ml lime, which balanced the Ango nicely!
Coming back to this as an update, but IMHO a very smoky mezcal works best here. For the first time I used Montelobos and the second time I used Lopez Real. They are both great, but the Montelobos has a very smoky flavor that balances very nicely with the angostura bitters, while the Lopez Real felt a little one dimensional.
I can confirm. The first time I made it with Del Maguey Vida Clásico, and it was incredibly interesting due to the interplay between the smoke and spices. Second round with Trader Joe's private label mezcal was nearly all Angostura—not bad, but more like a Christmas digestif.
Delicious! Whether or not it is properly classified as such, this is a fantastic digestif. After a rather heavy birthday dinner—followed by unfortunately large portions of German chocolate cake—this was just what the doctor ordered.
