Believe it or not, people don’t know, but to be able to have mezcal on the label and to be certified and to have to have the hologram, each product needs to go through a very strict regulation from laboratory analyses, et cetera, et cetera. Aged for 13 months in a blend of American and French oak barrels with flavours including maple, clove, and bitter orange aromas, and dark chocolate and sweet agave on the palate. From there, the competition moved onto Flavoured Tequila, where a Gold medal was handed to 1800 Coconut, with its “inviting, fresh coconut” aroma and “agave notes on the finish”. How do you start? Espadin is the most common and the most popular and mezcals from Oaxaca are very popular. I know that around 95% of mezcals that you find in the UK, they come from Oaxaca and mezcal from Oaxaca is very smoky and spicy and peppery and sweet. So, once you are into mezcal, you will be able to recognize the espadin mezcals.

Susan: How did you even start with mezcal? You weren’t just born in Mexico, came over here and that was it? We need to hear a little bit more about you. Eduardo: Every time I drink that particular mezcal, I get those notes of Tutti Frutti, dried fruits, dried strawberries, dried berries, but then you have tobalá in Puebla and tobalá is very vegetal, you know, very green. Susan: To be honest, you gave me this one. So, of course, it’s traditional and it’s filled with mezcal.The number of excellent Tequila and mezcal bottlings on the market has been increasing at an impressive rate, with producers bringing interesting expressions to keen consumers, as this year’s blind-tasting competition showed. This year’s Tequila & Mezcal Masters received a record number of entries Five Gold medallists were also enjoyed by the judges: Don Julio Añejo, with “cinnamon, vanilla and oak”; “sippable and accessible” Olmeca Altos Añejo; 1800 Añejo, which had “rich toffee, resinous aromas”; and “silky” Gran Centenario Añejo, with notes of “burnt sugar and lime citrus”. Pernod Ricard’s Avión Añejo also earned a Gold medal, presenting “lovely complexity and balance – very sippable”. Chambers said: “Delicious. Very good at what it does.” Make sure you have lots of good quality, very cold ice, or you can end up with something close to iced coffee, and always use freshly-made coffee. I make mine in one of those stovetop mocha things or you could use a Nespresso machine for the full Clooney effect.

You build that up the same way you do a Cuba Libre or the same way you do a Gin & Tonic. So, margaritas are very popular in, I guess, in the touristic areas. People at a barbacoa or a barbecue in Mexico, they will not have a shaker, or they will not be doing the margarita thing. Eduardo: Of course, well actually it happened by accident. I came for holidays. I’m a lawyer, originally a criminal lawyer in Mexico. I was working for the Mexican prosecution office, dealing with murders and kidnappers and so on. It was a very strong and powerful environment I used to deal with. When I came to the UK, I came to improve my English for a summer holiday, and I had the opportunity to join the Mexican Embassy. I worked for the Mexican Embassy in the Consular section for six months. Tanner said: “These Tequilas were worth the price point. If I were able to buy any of these in the lower, mid‐range of the price point especially, I’d be stoked.” The process begins by cooking the hearts of the agave for up to 10 days in anunderground ovenusing local oak wood. The cooked hearts are then crushed with atahonapulled bythe estate’s donkey chicharito What I knew is I wanted a product at 42% ABV because mezcal can be actually, you’ll find some mezcals in the market at 45, 48, 49, 50% ABV. I wanted a 42% because 40 will be too weak. I have tried mezcals at 40%, and I think you lose the complexity or 38 you lose complexity. Mine is smoky, but not too smoky, sweet, but not too sweet. easy to drink. You’re drinking it. You tell me how you feel it.Two Tequilas proved they have the credentials to win a Master medal in the following flight: 100% Agave Tequila – Ultra‐Premium Reposado. El Tequileño The Sassenach Select Double Wood Reposado bagged the top award for its “clean and fresh palate with increasing savoury notes, honey, vanilla, late pepper and bitter herbals”. They’re losing the traditions and I hope it will not happen. We want eventually to add pieces of Huichol into our bottles, to promote and to help them because they live very humbly. The way they live is just making these pieces of art. Huichol art it’s called. If you Google it, you will find some beautiful art, I’m sure that you have seen them.

Eduardo: Exactly. I think, in my opinion, that’s one of the biggest problems of mezcal right now in the UK, which for many, or for those that don’t know about mezcal is too much money. Like with American Whiskey, the ‘Boilermaker’ serve of a shot and a beer is excellent with mezcal. It’s how many Mexicans like to enjoy it, a straight serve with a cold beer chaser (by Manuel Lema, barman of Cavita, London) The third team consisted of Matt Chambers, co‐founder of the Whisky for Everyone blog and the North London Whisky Club, Evan Prousaefs, bar manager and assistant general manager of Los Mochis restaurant in London’s Notting Hill, and Chris Tanner, bar manager at Milroy’s. Melita Kiely, editor of The Spirits Business, chaired the panel.A nice British twist on the Pimms cup is nice using mezcal is also a good drink for something long and refreshing. We have a beautiful big range of tequilas and mezcals. Then almost three years ago, I was at the Edition Hotel in London having a mezcal with a couple of friends, and then they were, “Listen, we want to do mezcal, why don’t you help us?” People don’t understand the process of making tequila or the process of making mezcal, all the years that you have to wait for the plan to be ready.