Mezcal was, for many generations, regarded as tequila’s poor brother, but it’s now enjoying a renaissance as brands like Ilegal put this rustic spirit into the limelight.
The story of Ilegal Mezcal is as much about Mexico’s most underappreciated spirit as it is about the luxury liquor industry. Back in 2004 John Rexer, owner of Café No Sé, an international watering hole in colonial Antigua, Guatemala, would travel to Mexico and bring back bottles of his favourite unbranded mezcal from Oaxaca, a spirit rarely certified for export but one that quickly formed a loyal following among his patrons.
“I would never use the word ‘smuggle,’” he says. “Let’s just say there were river rafts, bribes, disguises, and late-night drop points. I’d prefer to say I was a bar owner with a supply problem who became a bit creative.” This creatively included once dressing as a priest to get 50 bottles across the border.
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Ilegal Mezcal has gone legit now but the colourful stories behind it, as well as some innovative marketing in important markets like New York and Los Angeles, has elevated the brand to cult status.
“Ilegal has texture and is not diluted and polluted by an industrial process,” says Rexer. “It’s like old hand-tooled leather versus cheap pleather. It’s seductive. People from all walks of life long for the difference. Illegal is a way of thinking and wanting to live as much as it is fine liquor.”
But the spirit is more than just fancy marketing; made in Oaxaca by a fourth-generation mezcalero passionate about keeping a 500-year-old tradition alive, Ilegal Mezcal is made from espadín agave that is baked in earthen pits before being stone ground, naturally fermented, and distilled twice in small batches. The process is an art, resulting in a beautifully balanced spirit with just a kiss of smoke, making for the ideal new innovation for imaginative bartenders.
Three styles include the unaged Joven, with notes of anise, red pepper, and light fruit with a smooth, heated finish; a Reposado, aged four months in American Oak barrels, with a more caramalised flavour and notes of chocolate, butterscotch, subtle heat, and a longer finish; and an Añejo, aged 13 months in American Oak, French Oak, and bourbon casks, with bitter-orange notes and hints of maple and clove.
The spirit isn’t widely available in Asia yet but bartenders in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore are already experimenting with mezcal and it’s just a matter of time until the bad boy of the market heads to the Far East.
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