Don Amado Arroqueño Mezcal

Earthy and mineral up front, with ash, crushed walnut, and roasted corn giving way to black pepper and dried chili on a long, almost savory finish. Dense and rustic, but the spice stays bright rather than heavy.

Arroqueño (Agave americana oaxacensis) needs close to two decades in the ground before it is ready, and Don Amado grows it on family land in Santa Catarina Minas. Eleventh-generation maestro Boni Arellanes roasts the hearts in earthen pits, then distills in ceramic clay-pot stills over open fire, an ancestral method his family has run for more than 300 years. Bottled at 46%.