By agave, by aging or elaboration process

Currently, there is a boom in manufacturing and consumption of mezcal, which has encouraged the proliferation of its culture and even it’s regulation. Therefore, the classification of mezcal is divided into three: agave type, resting time, and elaboration process.

Agave type

This classification takes into account the species that were used for its elaboration; espadín, tobalá, cimarrón, cuishe, or any of the wild or cultivated varieties of maguey, belonging to the states that produce mezcal, according to the Appellation of Origin.

Classification by maturity

Depending on the type and period of storage, mezcal is classified as:

Young mezcal

Colorless mezcal that did not have any process after being distilled.

Resting mezcal

Mezcal that remains between 2 and 12 months in barrel, in a space with minimum variations of luminosity, temperature, and humidity.

Aged mezcal

This mezcal must remain more than 12 months in the barrel with minimal variations in light, temperature, and humidity.

Glass-matured mezcal 

This mezcal is usually matured in glass containers underground and for at least 12 months.

Elaboration process

The process used determines the third form of classification of the mezcal. In this case, the distillate is classified as industrial, artisanal, or ancestral mezcal. In all cases, the type of cooking, milling, fermentation, and distillation is considered.

Industrial mezcal

Brewing: cooking maguey heads or juices in a shaft furnace, masonry, or autoclave oven.

Milling: tahona, Chilean or Egyptian mill, trapiche, ripper, or mill train.

Fermentation: wooden containers, masonry pools, or stainless-steel tanks.

Distillation: alembics, continuous distillers, or copper or stainless-steel columns.

For the industrially produced mezcal, you will only find the name «mezcal» on the bottle, this at the request of the producers, as the specification could affect their marketing and sale on the market.

Artisanal mezcal:

Brewing: cooking of maguey heads in a shaft furnace or raised masonry ovens.

Milling: with a mallet, bakery, Chilean or Egyptian mill, trapiche, or tearing machine.

Fermentation: holes in stone, soil or trunk, masonry pools, wooden or clay containers, animal skins, whose process may include the fiber of the maguey (bagasse).

Distillation: with direct fire in copper boiler alembics or clay pot and montera of clay, wood, copper, or stainless steel, whose process can include the fiber of the maguey (bagasse).

 

Ancestral mezcal

Brewing: cooking of maguey heads in shaft furnaces.

Milling: with a mallet, tahona, Chilean, or Egyptian mill.

Fermentation: holes in stone, soil or trunk, masonry pools, wooden or clay containers, animal skins, whose process must include the fiber of the maguey (bagasse).

Distillation: with direct fire in clay pot and clay or wood montera, whose process must include the fiber of the maguey (bagasse).

Mezcal Cómplice is made from 100% espadín maguey grown in San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca. Premium quality artisanal mezcal cooked in a conical stone oven, ground on a Chilean mill, and double distilled in a copper and stainless-steel stills.

Enjoy our variety of mezcals: Accomplice of Adventure, Accomplice of Love, Accomplice of Success, and Accomplice of Life.