great smoky: savoring upscale mezcal

New York’s love affair with tequila shows few signs of cooling off, but drinkers are having more and more intimate encounters with mezcal, a Mexican spirit with a different complexion. Both tequila and mezcal are made from the same fleshy-leafed plant, but mezcal is more artisanal—it’s produced in small, remote Oaxaca villages where agave hearts are roasted, mashed, fermented and distilled using methods that have been employed for centuries. The resulting spirit is spicy, sweet, fruity and, most of all, smoky. Mezcal can be sipped straight or used in cocktails—but for some people, it’s an acquired taste. “It’s not something people can wake up and decide they’re going to drink,” says Phil Ward, the co-owner of Mayahuel, an East Village cantina that views mezcal as a prized ingredient in cocktails instead of the culprit behind Spring Break mistakes. He compares the learning curve to that of peaty scotch, another spirit favored by connoisseurs. With more and more top-shelf mezcals now becoming available in the States, gone are the days when associations with the drink were restricted to reckless nights in Tijuana and gasoline-like liquor with a shriveled worm lurking at the bottom. Here are eight places in New York City where you can raise a glass to the wonderful world of mezcal.

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