Mezcal shots for breakfast

Only a handful of Mexican states are licensed to produce mezcal, and the majority of the spirit comes from this mountainous region where conditions are perfect for farming agave. In these mountains, there is blood honor in the creation of mezcal. For generations, mezcaleros have crafted their own distinctive styles of the spirit in small, family-run distilleries called palenques.

Montelobos Mezcal Joven is mezcal at its peak, born from centuries of ancient mezcalero craft and enlightened by the methodical pursuit of true perfection. 

The Montelobos Mezcal & Reyka Vodka tasting room began with a Montelobos shot followed by a bite of an orange wedge dipped in crushed worm spice. The smoky flavor with the orange and spice was a walk up call on this third day of Tales of the Cocktail. 

We met Ivan Saldana, creator of Montelobos Mezcal and all-around agave academic.