A mezcal bar in New York City.
October has come and gone and with it, National Mezcal Day. But who knew? The panel of tasting experts at Mexico News Daily surely didn’t, yet a search reveals that it was all over the Internet.
One website claims that American country music star Toby Keith was responsible for declaring October 21 as mezcal’s national day. But that might just be a bit of media hype: Keith himself is actually in the mezcal business with the brand Wild Shot.
It’s not that mezcal needs its own national day, given its growing popularity as a gourmet drink in North America and Europe. It has also become big as a cocktail ingredient, but the real mezcal connoisseurs continue to enjoy it straight.
As one reviewer describes it, mezcal is the single malt of the agave world.
Although price-wise it’s a bargain compared to most single-malt scotch whiskey, it’s not cheap by the time it reaches the international market, commanding as much as US $50 a bottle, and sometimes more.
(In the state of Oaxaca, your correspondent rarely pays more than 120 pesos, or $8.50, for a liter of good tobalá.)
Given the rise in its popularity, it’s not surprising that mezcal production was up 140% between 2012 and 2013, according to the Mezcal Regulatory Board (CRM), which says that production is growing at an average of 56% a year.
Still, that production is minuscule at 2.5 million liters annually. By comparison, tequila makers produce 250 million liters. Of course, the difference does give mezcal some exclusivity.
“Mezcal is now positioned worldwide as a high-quality drink and the principal cities that import it . . . are London and New York, where it is considered a gourmet beverage,” says CRM president Hipócrates Nolasco.
Although 10 years ago you could travel through Oaxaca, where most mezcal is produced, and rarely see a mezcalería, it’s been 20 years since the denomination of origin was established. Today, the agave beverage is produced under denomination of origin rules in eight states.
As an export product it is worth $40 million annually: exports were up 12% last year to 914,000 liters. Domestic growth was even greater last year at 150% for a total of 800,000 liters bottled.
That’s no surprise considering mezcalerías are popping up everywhere, and many good restaurants now pride themselves on extensive mezcal lists.
Once derided as the booze of drunks, mezcal has come to enjoy the high regard it deserves. Salud!
Mexico News Daily
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