Product: Scorpion Mezcal Silver Producer: Caballeros, Inc. Approximate Retail Value: $30/bottle Category: Tequila/Mezcal Country of Origin: Mexico Reviewer: R. Pietsch The F Words: Flavor – Earthy and smoky. Feel – Dense and heavy, far more than you’d expect. Finish – Packed with heat and hard-to-place flavors.

Rating:

I think most people are confused by the difference between mezcal and Tequila. But a quick refresher is simply to think of mezcal and Tequila like you think of whiskey and bourbon. Tequila and mezcal are both distilled from agave. However, Tequila is made only from a certain type of blue agave around the town of Tequila, Jalisco. Just as bourbon is technically a whiskey, it comes only from Kentucky and goes through a different distillation and aging process.

This is not my first encounter with mezcal. When a quality Mezcal comes along for a price I can agree with I will certainly jump on it. But given the choice, I will almost always go for a good bottle of Tequila over a bottle of mezcal. Tequila (mind you, I do not do Jose Cuervo) generally has so much more character and depth than mezcal. This, of course, comes from various parts of the process or aging. There are also more strict rules surrounding what can be labeled “Tequila” so there is less of a chance of getting a surprising bottle.

That being said, we are on to this particular bottle. Many mezcals can be produced with the highest attention to detail, and rested or aged to develop character, balance and flavor. This, however, is not one of those. Scorpion Silver Mezcal would be like the Bacardi of the mezcal world. It’s not a bad product. It’s versatile and can surprise you with the flavors you get out of it. But it’s not something you would want to enjoy neat. And for $30 a bottle, well there are better Tequilas out there for $24 a bottle.

The spirit itself is not bad. It has an earthy aroma a flavor which is surprising considering it isn’t aged a day. There is also a hint of smoke on the palate. But the alcohol is still shocking and hard to get past. It packs a punch and the finish is a little confusing. There are a variety of flavors and feels that remain, but they’re hard to name. I could apply the words “leather” and “citrus” as Scorpion does on their website. These flavors could be there, but if they are then they’re mixed in with so many other flavors they’re impossible to pick out.

Scorpion Silver is, in a word, fine. I would never seek it out. But if I was pressed to make a pitcher of margaritas you can bet I’d gladly throw this in. However, I would try to use some other flavors along with the lime. And I’d keep my eye on that scorpion in the bottle. I don’t care if it is just an exoskeleton, that little dude is frightening.