Sunday, January 22, 2012

Ilegal Nightcap

Mezcal's been all the rage with west coast mixologists of late, and I can't plead immunity to it's charms. Mezcal is generally smokier than tequila because of the smoky fires that are usually used to cook the agave prior to fermentation, a process not unlike the peat smoke applied to malted barley in the making of scotch whisky. Ilegal reposado is a fairly high end example, with sweet cooked agave fruitiness, a mouth-coating smoke character and a bit of the strange "band aid" aromas that occur from the combination of the two, again, not unlike a peat-smoked Islay malt. What's great about this one is the smoothness of the distillation and that subtle briny note that cuts the sweetness of the cooked agave. Who's got a smoke?


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