[00:00:00] I've been tasting agave spirits for over 20 years, and apparently I've been tasting mezcal wrong. I recently sat down with Geronimo Dorbecker, the founder of Mezcal Local, and during the interview, he showed me a completely different way to approach mezcal. So today we're going to taste Mezcal Local the way he taught me and show you exactly what I learned. And then we're going to find out if it actually tastes different in the glass first. This is a pretty interesting mezcal before it even gets in the bottle. The idea of Mezcal Local started when Geronimo traveled to Oaxaca and experienced something that goes way beyond the spirit itself. He met Maestro Mezcalero Don Gill and was welcomed into the community in a way that made him feel like he belonged there. And that experience became the whole philosophy behind naming this local. The idea of hospitality and community make you feel like you're local.
[00:00:44] It makes you feel like you're at home. Don Gill is a third generation maestro Mescalero, and today he produces Mezcal Local in San Pedro Vilamitla, oaxaca. They're using 100% cultivated espadine that are allowed to mature around 10 to 11 years. And I actually like the decision of using cultivated espadine here because we're going to have consistency and sustainability in the agave world. There are some wild agaves out there that can take decades to mature, so using an agave that can be intentionally cultivated and replanted makes a lot of sense. But here's where Mezcal Local gets really interesting. This is a pachouga del maguey, but probably not the type of pachuga you're thinking about. Traditional pachouga can involve hanging chicken, turkey breasts, or another meat inside the still during distillation. As it vaporizes it, it contributes a final character of the mezcal. Mezcal Local takes a different approach in their second distillation. They're using agave hearts in this one, along with fruits, including apples, peaches, bananas, and oranges. So you get a combination of kot agave fruit and those different aromatics coming through the distillation without using meat. And that's part of why I was really interested in learning about this approach. This one is also done pachuca style, but this one is using all citrus fruits in the still. It's amazing how they taste different. Here's what he taught me. First of all, I'm going to drink these in a small capita. These are really cool glasses. You got to check these out at villa3way8.com. Now, what you do is you want to take your finger with a little bit of mezcal, and you want to rub it on your hand. And you're going to rub this on your hand until it gets almost dry, and then you're going to smell it. And I get some smoke, I get some fruitiness, and I get some minerality. But what's amazing is how much smoke that you really get there. And then that's step one. Step two is, now take the glass and smell the glass. And what happens is the smoke that you get on your hand does not exist anymore in the glass.
[00:02:43] I get really nice coked agave, some earthy minerality, and some neat fruit notes. So let's take a taste of this one.
[00:02:53] Very little smoke. It's there. It's supposed to be. The way this is produced creates that flavor. But the amount of citrus and apple and fruit, along with this really nice minerality, just makes this one a great sipper. It's really amazing. Now let's try the same process with the next one. When I smell it, at first, I smell a lot of smoke. So when I take it, rub it on the hand, do the same thing. And you got to go until it's almost all the way dry. And if you can tell me why this works this way, if you're a scientist or mad genius and you know why, I would love to hear it. So now when you go in for this, smell this one, I get a lot of smoke. I get less cooked agave, but I get, like, an orange zest note. So now if I go back to the mezcal again, the smoke is almost all the way gone. And I get cooked agave and lots of citrus notes. I get orange, mango, even a little bit of pineapple. It's like a ripe pineapple. Let's dive into the taste of this one. Wow, that citrus is really there. There's a little bit of earthiness, a little bit of agave, but kind of different tasting than the way this agave is. Long finish gets a little peppery. And this one, the. The smoke is back in the finish. Here's where I think tequila drinkers need to pay attention. If your experience with mezcal has been taking one sip and all you taste is smoke, don't assume that's all mezcal tastes like. That's kind of like drinking one heavily oak tequila and deciding all tequila tastes like a barrel. There's an enormous amount happening underneath the spoke, depending on what agave, where they grew it, how they cooked it, the fermentation style, how did they distill it, and in this case, introducing second distillation with agave and fruit and with citrus fruits in that second distillation. Those make a change. My biggest takeaway from this, and especially from interviewing Geronimo wasn't actually just about Mezcal Local. It was realizing that after years of tasting Tequila, I still have a lot to learn about Mezcal. And I really love that. Sitting across from somebody who can show me a completely different way to experience agave spirit is exactly why I like doing these interviews. So I'm curious, have you been tasting Mezcal the same way? Have you taste tequila? Please let me know down in the comments. If you want to watch my interview with Geronimo, it is definitely on my YouTube channel. Check it out next time you try some Mezcal. Try Geronimo's method the next time you get a pour and see how it changes the taste of what you have in your glass. Now if you're a really big fan of Agave's beards, you're not going to learn a lot about Mezcal on the Tequila Report. You definitely can learn about what's happening in the tequila industry. It's free since your email every week 63,000 people get it. Why don't you come go check it
[email protected] subscribe and let me know in the comments if you've had this Mezcal and if you've tried this system of tasty Mezcal. Thanks for watching. Have a great night.
