The judges then turned their attention to aged Tequilas, beginning with a flight of Mixto Tequila – Reposado. In this round, two Silver medallists were discovered. Sierra Tequila Reposado secured Silver for aromas of “fruit, vegetal notes and a touch of pepper”, leading to “some warming spice” on the palate. El Sueño Tequila Gold also took home Silver for delivering “some grassy notes” on the palate, and a “nice spiciness”. The third team consisted of Matt Chambers, co‐founder of the Whisky for Everyone blog and the North London Whisky Club, Evan Prousaefs, bar manager and assistant general manager of Los Mochis restaurant in London’s Notting Hill, and Chris Tanner, bar manager at Milroy’s. Melita Kiely, editor of The Spirits Business, chaired the panel. Susan: It was great to have Eduardo on the program teaching us all about Mezcal and Ojo de Dios mezcal in particular. I know I can’t wait to start trying it from each different Mexican state.

So, I invite your listeners to obviously try to sip and taste different mezcals from different agave plants in different states, because each one will be different. Ojo de Dios (God’s eye) is the eye to the soul of Mexico; celebrated inhuichol art and deeply rooted in the ancient traditions of the indigenous people of Mexico. 30,000 beads are hand placed one-by-one over a layer of native beeswax. The agave fibers & juices are then naturally fermented & finallydouble distilledin our 250 liters copper still pots where its transformed to deliciousOjode DiosMezcal Then they offered me a full-time job and when I noticed, it was five years and then 10 years. I worked for Corona Extra for 10 years until they sold it to Anheuser-Busch Eduardo: Obviously the main brands, Don Julio, Cuervo 1900, Herradura, Siete Leguas, those brands that they’ve been in Mexico for many years. They are very popular, and they were always very popular. I mean, my dad’s favorite was Centenario from Casa Cordova. Whereas I remember one of my uncles, he loved his Don Julio Reposado. This was before Bacardi Brown-Forman bought Herradura and before Diageo bought Don Julio. We’re talking about when those brands were still Mexican owned, and family owned.There’s a reason celebrities are eager to claim a stake in the Tequila category, and that’s because the agave‐based spirit is soaring in popularity.

There were many brands selling in plastic containers with the name of mezcal and people really associate those bad quality or poor-quality products with the name mezcal. Thankfully the CRT and the different producers came together and said, “Okay, well let’s just start from the beginning. And let’s really promote the category in a better way.” Five or 10 years ago, nobody would put investment into research and development for Tequila, but now producers are in a position to start messing around a bit more, which means they must have confidence in the consumer.”A unique blend of the finest Espadin agave, hand-selected from the hillsides of a small village in Oaxaca. Dos Hombres presents an appealing fragrance and a rich taste that engages the palate, ensuring the distinctive smoothness of our brand. Eduardo: I had everything in my mind, you know, so I went first to meet with four different producers. After that trip, I had chosen one. Then we started talking about exactly what I wanted. Eduardo: Actually, the one that you have is even more traditional than this one. This one is quite pretentious. I will say

Four Gold‐standard mezcals were also tasted. A Gold medal went to 400 Conejos Mezcal with its “new‐make aromas” and “fruity palate, with mild, dry smoke”. A single flavoured mezcal entry, Ojo de Dios ODD Café Mezcal, delivered a strong finish to the tasting. The Gold winner delighted the panel with its “rich, chocolatey” palate, full of “comforting coffee notes and balanced sweetness”. So, I was like, I have to do it. It has to be me. I cannot let anybody else do it. So, I founded, I started the Tequila and Mezcal Fest in 2014 with the objective to educate the consumer and the trade and to promote the category of tequila and mezcal. Sadly 9 out of 10 people in the UK, if you mentioned tequila, they remembered those days at university. You know, doing shots of the tequila, which surely wasn’t a 100% good quality tequila. Believe it or not, people don’t know, but to be able to have mezcal on the label and to be certified and to have to have the hologram, each product needs to go through a very strict regulation from laboratory analyses, et cetera, et cetera. A Silver medal was given to coffee‐flavoured Sierra Milenario Tequila Cafè. Two more Silver medals were hailed in the Tequila Liqueur round. El Sueño Watermelon Liqueur pleasantly surprised the judges with its “fresh watermelon notes” and some “light earthiness”. Silver winner Horus was likened to a “very well done chocolate cream”.There’s cause for optimism embedded in mezcal’s regulations, believes Eduardo Gomez, sales director of Mexican food retailer Mexgrocer, and founder of Ojo de Dios mezcal. “There will definitely be more industrialisation in the process as a consequence of demand, but the good news is that if mezcal is artisanal or ancestral by DO [denomination of origin], producers must follow the process in the regulations that have been established by the NOM [official Mexican standard],” he says. So, mezcal is an artisanal spirit made from the agave plant. That’s what mezcal is. In beer terms. I always put it this way, in beer terms, tequila is your Fosters or Stella and mezcal is your craft local beer. That’s how I put it for people that don’t know about mezcal. Two Gold medals were given to “classic, earthy” Matra Mezcal and “very smooth” Mezcal Artesanal Noble Coyote Espadín‐Tobalá, with “ripe banana” notes. A Silver medal went to Mezcal Artesanal Noble Coyote Jabalí.