While the mezcal market isn’t as big as tequila in terms of sales and number of brands, there are some new entries worth highlighting. One of them is Desolas, which has only been around since 2020. The brand has just made a big splash with the release of what it calls the first single barrel agave expression made from the Salimiana agave varietal. We got an early taste, and it’s pretty good.
While tequila can only be made from Blue Weber agave in a few different states of Mexico, mezcal can be made from many different agave varieties in nine states—Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Guerrero, Durango, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Zacatecas, and Gonzaga. Mezcal is most commonly made from asparagus agave, but it can be made from many others, and each one influences the flavor. The production process usually involves a number of traditional methods, the most important of which is cooking the agave in a pit in the ground to give it the smoky flavor that largely defines the category. Of course, this flavor can vary, ranging from heavily smoky to barely smoky, depending on how it’s made.
Desolas was founded in 2020 by GG Mervis with a focus on creating a less smoky version of mezcal made only from Salimiana agave in San Luis Potosí, where the pans are cooked above ground in horno ovens instead of underground pits. This means that the focus is less on the smoke and more on the agave (salmiana is known as the “green giant” and is said to be quite herbaceous). Desolas launched with a blanco (or undiluted) expression, the most common in the mezcal category, but this fall it launched a reposado that was aged in bourbon barrels for six months.
This month, the brand is introducing a single-barrel Añejo expression, which it claims to be the first of its kind (at least on a widely available level, it seems). The mezcal was aged in two ex-bourbon barrels for a total of 31 months, yielding two distinct expressions. One barrel was placed at the top of an “aging facility” (probably not a warehouse because of the wording), and the other to see how different microclimates would affect the flavor, and both were bottled at 104 proof strength. According to the brand, Barrel One was named “Golden Horizon” for its “vibrant and youthful flavor profile”, while Barrel Two was named “Amber Soul” for its “extreme sweetness and spice”. “Single barrel releases are rare in the mezcal world,” chief strategy officer Sammy Halpern said in a statement. “Our single barrel ajo is bold, refined and distinctive. Each barrel brings its own character, turning our bright, botanical mezcal into something truly one-of-a-kind.”
We got to sample this release and it’s one worth seeking out. There’s barely any smoke on the palate, as you might expect, and probably from the time it spent in oak rather than the actual production process. The agave character shines through, but as you sip there are rich notes of vanilla, maple, espresso, and some fresh cut grass, and a little heat fades away at this high proof. More than 200 bottles of each barrel are available from this month at select retailers (SRP $200), and you can find the original Blanco on websites like Reserve Bar.
The authors
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