A look at Del Maguey Mezcals
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think Mezcal?
Is it just smoke and a harsh almost unbearable flavor? Well not all mezcals are created equally. Del Maguey is working to change your perception of mezcal to something that can be sipped that hides a rich variety of flavors as opposed to something that should be shot at the end of the night.
So much in fact that the slogan of Del Maguey is “Sip it. Don’t Shoot it”.
Del Maguey uses a process involving roasting the hearts of the agave(otherwise known as maguey) over hot stones in a pit that’s located in the ground and covered with soil. Once this process is completed, the agave is then made into mash and is fermented in wooden vats and subjected to a series of two distillations in copper or wood-fired clay stills.
Each variety of Del Maguey mezcal bears the name of the Mexican village it originates from. As each bottling originates from a different village using a process that can be traced back to the 16th century, bottlings of Del Maguey are only available in small quantities This makes each sip more enjoyable when you think to yourself how lucky you to be enjoying a product of such high quality.
So now we move on to the fun part. Tasting the Del Maguey mezcal.
We decided to take a look at two of Del Maguey’s products.
First up is the Del Maguey Crème De Mezcal.
Del Maguey Crème De Mezcal
This bottling is incredibly unique as it combines unfermented agave syrup(Miel de Maguey) and a mezcal originating from San Luis Del Rio.
When tasting it neat you’re introduced to notes of sweet yet smokey caramel , citrus, espresso and minor hints of cocoa.
With such a copious amount of flavors as well as the perfect balance between sweet and smoky, Del Maguey Crème De Mezcal just calls out to be used in cocktails.
So we decided to try it out and came up with the “Sunny in Seattle”.
Sunny in Seattle
1/2 oz Del Maguey Crème De Mezcal
½ oz Espresso Syrup
1 ½ oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum
Fresh Lime Juice from half of a lime
1 Dash Peychaud Bitters
2-3 Regans Orange Bitters
Garnish with Burnt Orange Zest
A combination of Del Maguey Crème De Mezcal, Black Strap Rum, and Espresso Syrup.
Next we took a look at Del Maguey’s Chichicapa Mezcal.
Del Maguey Chicicapa
Introduced by Del Maguey in 1995, it originates from the village of Chichicapa. The village of Chichicapa is located in a valley surrounded by mountains with a desert climate that is filled throughout with banana trees, guava and other tropical fruit which adds to the profile of the soil used in creating the Chichicapa Mezcal.
Hints of smoke throughout each sip, yet it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the spirit and allows you the chance to taste other flavors. Sweet, with hints of sweet agave, that ends with a note of refreshing mint.
This is a stronger spirit than the Crème De Mezcal, and if not sipped straight it would work well when paired with spicier components such as peppers, and could also be balanced with ingredients such as Aperol or Grand Marnier.
