Con Gusano

Many of the most appreciated spirits in the world are the consequence of clashing a base spirit with some sort of modifier. Think about every brown spirit, made with fairly uninteresting grains, but then, after spending enough time interacting with wood, they get the chance to become complex and glorious. Mallort, big shout out to CH distilleries, Chartrouse and every Amari under the sun, are some of other examples of beloved spirits that have been modified with external elements in some way or another. Yet when we talk about mezcal, the idea of using modifiers, with the exception of pechugas, makes most people uncomfortable. Why the hell will you dilute or interfere with agave's essence, people claim, this plant that took such a long time to grow and which patiently collected information from the soil and its immediate environment should be consumed at its purest form in order to truly honor its origin. But then, oh how I love my Mallort and my worm infused mezcales. So I decided to have a conversation trying to get to the bottom of this with one of the industry's worst purists, my friend Jon Darby.