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Mezcal styles explained
Mezcal labels carry words that no one explains at the shelf. Here is what each style actually means in the palenque, how it changes the spirit, and which bottles in the catalogue belong to it.
Every style
Joven MezcalUnaged, bottled straight from the stillJoven is mezcal as the palenque made it — clear, unaged and the honest benchmark for any distillery.Ensamble MezcalTwo or more agave species roasted and distilled togetherAn ensamble blends several maguey species in one batch, giving the mezcalero a composed flavour rather than a single-varietal portrait.Pechuga MezcalA third distillation with fruit, spice and a hanging proteinPechuga is a celebration mezcal: distilled a third time with seasonal fruit, nuts and spices, and a raw chicken or turkey breast hung in the still.Ancestral MezcalClay-pot distillation, the oldest method still in useAncestral is the strictest certified category: agave roasted in an earthen pit, milled by hand or tahona, fermented in wood, stone or hide, and distilled in clay pots.Mezcal Aged in GlassYears in sealed glass demijohns, no oak involvedGlass-aged mezcal rests for years in sealed demijohns — the spirit integrates and softens without picking up a single note of wood.Puntas MezcalThe high-proof heads of the run, bottled on purposePuntas are the first, strongest fraction to come off the second distillation — intense, aromatic and typically 55% ABV or higher.Capón MezcalAgave castrated in the field, left to sweeten before harvestCapón mezcal comes from agave whose flower stalk was cut early, letting the plant concentrate sugars for months or years longer.