Mezcal Aged in Glass

Producers seal finished mezcal in glass garrafones and leave it, sometimes for five or ten years. Glass is inert, so nothing is added; what changes is integration. Esters knit together, the alcohol reads softer, and the sharpest edges of a young batch settle down.

Side by side with the same mezcal fresh off the still, a glass-aged bottling tastes rounder and more coherent, with the smoke folded into the fruit rather than sitting on top of it. Colour stays clear because there is no wood.

It is the traditional Oaxacan alternative to barrels, and the reason many producers argue that mezcal never needed oak in the first place.