Gusano Rojo Mezcal 750ml

Mezcal Gusano Rojo claims to be one of the first mezcals to include the worm in its bottle. Legend has it that an employee of the bottling plant, Jacobo Lozano Páez, came up with the idea in the 1940s, before this mezcal got it’s current name. The name “Gusano Rojo” comes from the worm that grows in the agave, and can be considered as a delicacy with aphrodisiac properties.

About this mezcal

Gusano Rojo Mezcal is produced in Santiago Matatlan using maguey Espadin (agave Angustifolia). It is double distilled and aged at least 2 months in oak and white oak casks before being bottled for distribution. Gusano Rojo first was exported in 1978, and there’s a very interesting pre-Denomination of Origin article about the brand in the Associate Press from 1987: The Worm is Just for Flavor.

The Taste of Gusano Rojo

Sporting the robust flavor of day-old licorice and charcoal, It warms you up physically after two shots. Another shot, and it lifts your spirits like an Apache helicopter with Hellfire missiles locked and loaded.

If James Bond said “Mezcal — oily, not smooth.” to the bartender in a Mexican mezcaleria, he probably would be served a shot of Gusano Rojo. It hits the back of the throat, not the roof of your mouth the way a refined mezcal does. Still, it’s not unpleasant, price considered. Best served with worm salt and a slice of orange, this hooch you want to knock back like tequila, not sip like the good stuff.

The grade of mezcal you would expect to find in a Tarantino bar scene, It’s a cut above other joven mezcals in the under $50 range. But it is the only mezcal so far that led to a headache even before the end of the night, so proceed with caution.