Mezcal Scorpion

Velvety soft, smoky sense of danger

The dangerous looks of Scorpion Mezcal belies what it actually is. Scorpion Mezcal is soft, smoky, with an almost velvety palate and and a wonderful rich and almost sumptuos aroma. And what’s more… it is a a true sipper in all agings.

Brand background

Scorpion Mezcal was born out of one of those ruptures in international trade relations that can enormous effects on small businesses. In this instance it was Douglas French, a textile designer and weaver in San Francisco who suddenly felt the brunt of a update in the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement between the USA, Canada and Mexico. His business went bankrupt and he went to Oaxaca, where part of his family came from. Douglas French changed his career to make mezcal. The mezcal industry in Oaxaca had been a subsistence level business activity. Most of the producers made very small quantities and were quite poor. However, he felt that there was potential to carve out a small business.

Douglas French eventually got his first batch of mezcal reaydy and set off to market to sell it. Unfortunately no one wanted to buy. The local buyers already had suppliers and didn’t need any more. So the Oaxacan market was saturated with mezcal. He decided to go back to the USA to sell it. However no one knew what mezcal was and no one wanted to buy it and no importer was interested in investing in it.

So with an old buddy in California, he started his own import and distribution company, Caballeros. This way he at least had the product in the USA ready to deliver without any delays.
Without the millions of dollars necessary to run a promotional program he needed something to get sales started and this is where the scorpion came in! He came up with the Scorpion name and a real scorpion in the bottle. THAT was exciting and it got sales going even though very slowly.

An old friend Barbara Sweetman decided to join in the effort and started selling mezcal full time in the USA. She was based in NYC. With her efforts sales grew and the brand got on track.

Overall tasting profile

Scorpion Mezcal is made from the Espadin and Tobala varieties of agave. Espadin is a popular variety, which has the same properties you will find in Blue Agave, which is used for Tequila production. It is sweet and holds a lot of complexity, when it is treated with respect. Tobala is a more costly agave variety due to its long growing time. On average it takes 15 years before a Tobala agave has reached maturity, which makes it expensive. It is however, also an exquisite pleasure when it is used succesfully in a mezcal.