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Last year I came across the Del Maguey table later in the evening and wasn’t able to try all the mezcal they had brought—they hadn’t run out, but I was very close to reaching my alcohol intake limit, and sampling eight mezcals wasn’t about to happen. So this year I located the table early on, and was struck all over again by how different from each other the mezcals tasted. Each is made in a single village in Oaxaca, and the various microclimates and soils in which the agave plants grow affect the taste of the finished mezcal tremendously. Among my favorites was Vida, which was smoky, fruity, and very complex—and at $40, it’s their least expensive bottle. Another was Pechuga, made with wild apples, plums, plantains, pineapples, almonds, and white rice; a chicken breast is suspended in the still during distillation. It’s fruity, slightly salty, and yes, tastes a little like chicken. It’s also $200 a bottle, so I won’t be tasting it again anytime soon.
Julia Thiel
Julia Thiel
Pinckney Bend tonic syrup
