Learning the Anatomy of Mezcal with Montelobos

A look inside agave's distinct second spirit

There was once a time when all agave-distilled spirits were called mezcal. Tequila was simply a regionally specific iteration. As much for preservation as it was for marketing purposes, laws were put into place that ultimately made tequila and its production distinct—and cast everything else as second tier. This is no longer the case. With a boom in sales as an indicator, mezcal has not …