Hard Drinkers, Lets Drink Hard (Spirits, Liquors and Cocktails)
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Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal. The Islay (Mezcal) to your Speyside (tequila). So elemental, raw, smoky and delicious.
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Yes! Chichicapa is my favorite of the Del Maguey mezcales. The bottle we're working on right now at the house is Pierde Almas Dobadaan. I like this one, but my fave Pierde Almas is definitely the Tobaziche. If you love mezcal, that's a label worth checking out, and I'm pretty sure it's increasingly available in the US.
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I'll keep an eye out, thanks for the tip!
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A friend bought me a bottle of Fireball for my birthday, Canadian whiskey and cinnamon, I'm about to give it a go.
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It is terrible, but I'm not a big fan of cinnamon.
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I like cinnamon, and I like this too. Reminds of a sweet I enjoyed as a kid.
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Straight from a shot glass.
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You know it
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Fireball was a Western North Carolina holiday tradition growing up…deeeelishus.
As for Mezcal, it's the precursor of tequila. Mezcal is also made from agave, or maguey, but it's made from all varieties of the plant, not just blue agave like tequila. Tequila is also only made in Jalisco, in and around the town of Tequila. Mezcal is distilled all over Mexico. Flavor-wise, it's usually smokier, earthier, and stronger than tequila--hence the bourbon=tequila, scotch=mezcal comparisons.
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Mezcal could conceivably be made EXACTLY the same as tequila, but if it isn't made in the prescribed region of the appellation, it will be dubbed mezcal instead of tequila, sort of like the whole champagne versus sparkling wine thing. So technically a tequila is a mezcal made in a certain region under certain conditions with certain ingredients. All tequilas are mezcals (though if it's a tequila, everyone will call it a tequila) but not all mezcals are tequila.
A lot of mezcals are small batches from family run operations, where tequila is usually a larger scale operation.
Oaxacan single-village mezcal is kind of on the rise in the States now that it's coming more available. Like sabergirl says it's smokier, because they generally roast the maguey in stone or clay ovens.
I used to be snobbish towards mezcal because the only stuff in the market was garbage, but there are some really nice ones out there.
