People ask me all the time how many bottles of mezcal I have.  I look around my apartment and I see bottles stashed everywhere: closets, cabinets, laundry room, kitchen, billiard room, parlor, library, conservatory, observation wing, theater, gazebo, tanning room (for hides not skin of course), and even the laboratory!  With all these rooms, how can I find them to count them?  Well OK, maybe that is not really the set up in NYC apartment.  But I do have a lot of bottles and they are spread out a bit, and I have never taken the time to count them up….until now….

So people ask how many bottles I have, and then they usually ask me how that stacks up to other mezcal fans or bars and restaurants.  Do I have more mezcal than any individual in NYC?  In the U.S.?  Or do I have more mezcals than any bars in the City?  Of course, I really don’t know the answer to any of these, though I suspect I have more mezcal than any bar.  That really is not that hard when you realize that the bars are pretty much limited to what they can buy commercially in the U.S. – things like liquor laws, tax stamps, importers and distributors come into play, so they are handicapped.  Whereas, a private collection is uninhibited by such restrictions.  So if you buy what is commercially available in the U.S. (which I pretty much do), plus you bring back a lot of bottles from Mexico (which I also do), then it is hard for a bar to keep up with that due to the restrictions they face.

So yes, I THINK I have more mezcals than any bar in the country but I don’t know if I have more than any private collection here in NYC or beyond.  In fact, I highly doubt it.  My friends at Mezcalistas on the West Coast may be killing me!  (But no combining collections Max and Susan).  But I don’t know.   That’s what this post is all about.  Take the Mezcal Challenge!

Are there bottles in the US that I don’t have?  Absolutely.  I buy what interests me.  I don’t buy to artificially expand my collection.  For example, I love most of the Del Maguey line but I really don’t need all 18 of their bottles in my apartment!  I’ve tried them all, and I buy the ones I really like.  Also, budgetary and storage constraints come into play (we are actually renovating our apartment in part to create more mezcal storage space….really).  But I still have acquired much of what is out there, and probably tasted almost all of it.

I have acquired it but that doesn’t mean I still have it.  My mezcal collection, probably like yours, is a living and breathing entity.  Bottles come in, bottles are consumed, bottles go out.   And there is a fair amount of turnover here as I drink a LOT of mezcal (not all on my own mind you…OK, maybe most of it).

So the Mezcal Challenge is a snapshot in time.  How many bottles of mezcal do you have RIGHT  NOW?  But first, we need a few rules.  I know, I know.  Mezcal don’t need no stinkin’ rules!  But we had to have a few.  And yes, there is of course subjectivity, but we needed a methodology to count our bottles.  For example, I have a lot of little sample bottles, but should those count?  It does not feel right to me since they disappear with one swig.  So they are out.  What about mezcals you may have brought back from Mexico that have no label?  Fantastic.  They are in.  Or the 200ml flask that fits in your back pocket?  I say yes.  So you see, there are a few considerations, and I have clearly given it deep meditative thought….

Bottle Counting Rules:

• Size matters.  No 2 ounce sample bottles.  Size has to be 200ml or greater.
• Bacanora, Sotol, Distillates de Agave, and Raicilla count.  You deserve the credit if you have some of these.
• Tequila does not count.  No offense to tequila but this is about other agave distillates.  My friends at Agave Idiots can run the Tequila Challenge.
• This is a unique bottle competition.  What does that mean?  Well, if you have a case of Ilegal Joven or Del Maguey Vida in a closet, that does not count as 6 bottles – it is just one.  Even if you have 2 of your favorite bottles, it still only counts as 1. But if you have 4 different expressions from Pierde Almas, that’s 4.  Unique bottles only.
• Different lots do not equal different bottles.  This one is admittedly tricky.  Different lots of the same brand can taste different for sure, but it is the same brand and same expression, so I am going to say it does not count.  Tough call though and it would inflate my totals for sure.
• Honor system.  Ernst and Young will not show up at your door seeking verification.  Photographic evidence may be requested for bold claims!

Personal Category and Professional Category

As I am anticipating an onslaught of entries (Mario help me out here!), I will have two categories.  The Personal Category for individuals and The Professional Category for bars and restaurants.  Depending on the geographic breakdown of entries, I may make a few categories for the winners (like US, Europe, Mexico, International, etc). Many bars want to claim that they have the largest selection of mezcal (I know because they want to be included on my Mezcal Joints page and they make these types of claims).  I get that.  Submit your entry.  Let’s see how it goes, and maybe some obvious sub-categories will develop.  Or perhaps, I will only get a handful of submissions (lame).  We will find out!

But man am I curious.  I would love to know you if you are a serious collector of mezcal, and I would love to know what bar or restaurant has the largest mezcal selection in the US and beyond!

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Since I am initiating the Mezcal Challenge, you probably want to know how many unique bottles I have in my collection???  Should I disclose now or wait until other entries come in?  Well, I want to set the tone so I will disclose my current unique bottles count with the complete list at the end of this post. So…….

I have 142 unique bottles of mezcal currently in my possession.

I guess it is a good number but it seems small when I think of tequila collectors I know (Hello Mark!) who have something like 2,000 bottles in their private collections (though that is probably not unique bottles).  But anyway, it feels small.  Well not small small, but big small.  With me?  But maybe not.  You tell me.  What have you got??  You don’t even have to list them all – just give me a number.

I will publish the results.  You can send me an email to [email protected] or respond to this post.  But either way, I will publish a results post in a few weeks time.

Prizes

I am working on producing Mezcal PhD T-shirts – the logo design is in process.  While not there yet, I will have these in the coming months, and that my friends will go to the lucky winners of the Mezcal Challenge!

So that’s it.  I hope that some of you – any of you stake your claim to the title and give me a unique bottle count.  And for the bars and restaurants out there, the crown of most mezcals in the US, London, Australia, Canada, Paris or wherever hopefully has some appeal!  I look forward to any and all submissions!

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RESULTS

So after many months and hundreds of submissions (would you believe dozens?), the results are in!  A bit to my surprise, it appears that I have the largest private mezcal collection in the U.S.  While no one from Mexico submitted a larger list, I would bet that my collection can be readily topped south of the border by more than a few people.

At any rate, I thank those that submitted their collections and here are some of the notable numbers:

Mario (“Marwinski”)                                       85 bottles  (Hated mezcal 3yrs ago!)

Mezcal Review (Oaxacan writer)                54 bottles (Mexican winner!)

Eric Gunn (Ohio)                                              39 bottles (State Champ!)

Max (Mezcalistas)                                            40-ish (Turnover high – excessive consumption)

Ken (Mezcal journalist)                                 30-ish

Mike Jones (enthusiastic contributor)     15

Judah (Mezcal Vago)                                       Unknown (Talks a big game – can prob back it up)

So there you have it!  I owe T-shirts to Mario and Mezcal Review, though I have to make them first.  They are extremely well-designed and super cool in my head, but I am slow to execute.  But I will get there.  I may send out some more freebies as well!  Thanks to all for contributing!

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And finally, here is my bottle list……and drink mezcal……

1	3 Pueblos Reposado	Espadin
2	Agave de Cortes – 3yr Anejo	Espadin
3	Agave de Cortez Reposado with Worm	Espadin
4	Alipus San Andreas	Espadin
5	Alipus San Juan	Espadin
6	Banhez	Barril
7	Benesin	Tequilana
8	Bosscal Mezcal	Durangensis
9	Bruxo No. 3	Barril
10	Bruxo No. 4	Espadin, Barril, Cuishe
11	Cielo Rojo	Bacanora
12	Cuish	Mexicano
13	Cuish	Cierra Negra
14	Cuish	Tobaziche
15	Cuish	Arroqueno
16	Cuish	Cirial
17	Del Maguey	Tepeztate
18	Del Maguey	Tobala
19	Del Maguey	Pechuga
20	Del Maguey	Papalome
21	Del Maguey Chichicapa – Cask Finish	Espadin
22	Del Maguey Crema	Espadin
23	Del Maguey San Luis del Rio Azul	Tequilana Weber
24	Destileria Tlacolulu Special 3	Tobala
25	Destileria Tlacolulu Special 4	Arroqueno
26	Destileria Tlocolula Special 1	Espadin with cannibus infusion
27	Destileria Tlocolula Special 2	Madrecuixe Pechuga
28	Don Amado Rustico	Espadin
29	El Amor Del Diablo	Papalote
30	El Buho	Espadin
31	El Cortija	Maguey Pulquero
32	El Jolgorio	Arroqueno
33	El Jolgorio Special Bottling	Tepeztate
34	El Silencio	Ensemble
35	Enmascarado 55	Espadin
36	Espiritu Lauro Joven	Espadin
37	Espiritu Lauro Reposado	Espadin
38	Fidencio	Madrecuixe
39	Fidencio	Pechuga
40	Fidencio Sin Humo	Espadin
41	Gracias a Dios Mezcal	Tobala
42	Gracias a Dios Mezcal	Espadin
43	Gran Reserva Joya Anejo	Does Not Say
44	Hacienda de Chihuahua Sotol Anejo	Sotol
45	Ilegal Anejo	Espadin
46	Ilegal Anejo – Special Bottling 2yr	Espadin
47	Ilegal Joven	Espadin
48	Ilegal Joven Special Bottling – 47%	Espadin
49	Ilegal Reposado	Espadin
50	Ilegal Wine Barrel Aged	Espadin
51	In Situ	Tepeztate
52	In Situ	Tepeztate
53	Koch el Mezcal	Cirial, Tobasiche, Tobala, de Lumbre
54	La Fogata Anejo	Espadin
55	Los Amantes Reposado	Espadin
56	Los Danzantes Reposado	Espadin
57	Los Nahuales Anejo	Espadin
58	Luis Mendez Special Bottling	Coyote
59	Luis Mendez Special Bottling	Arroqueno
60	Mestizo Anejo	Espadin
61	Metl Reposado	Espadin
62	Mezcal Buen Viaje	Madrecuixe, Espadin
63	Mezcal Embajador Reposado	Unlabeled
64	Mezcal Koch	Tepeztate
65	Mezcal Koch	Tobasiche
66	Mezcal Marca Negra	Bicuishe, Espadin, Madrecuixe
67	Mezcal Marca Negra	Tobala
68	Mezcal Marca Negra	Arroqueno
69	Mezcal Marca Negra	Espadin
70	Mezcal Marca Negra	Dobadan
71	Mezcal Olla Zapoteca	Cuise
72	Mezcal Olla Zapoteca	Madrecuixe
73	Mezcal Rio Revuelto	Espadin, Madrecuishe
74	Mezcal Rojas Reposado	Cenizo
75	Mezcal Tosba	Espadin
76	Mezcal Tosba	Tobala
77	Mezcal Union	Espadin, Cirial, Barril
78	Mezcal Vago	77% Blanco, 23% Sierra Negra
79	Mezcal Vago	Cuixe, Espadin
80	Mezcal Vago	Espadin
81	Mezcal Vago	Coyote, Espadin, Mexicano
82	Mezcal Vago	Mexicano (93%), Espadin (7%)
83	Mezcal Vago	Tobala
84	Mezcal Vago	Tobala en Barro
85	Mezcal Vago Elote	Espadin
86	Mezcal Ven A Mi	Espadin
87	Mezcalero 10	Sierra Negra
88	Mezcalero 11	Madrecuishe, Bicuishe, Espadin
89	Mezcalero 2	Espadin, Tepeztate, Tobala
90	Mezcalero 3	Espadin, Mexicana
91	Mezcalero 4	Sierra Negra, Tepeztate
92	Mezcalero 5	Espadin, Tepeztate
93	Mezcalero 6	Mexicano, Madrecuixe, Bicuishe
94	Mezcalero 8	Mexicano, Madrecuixe, Tobala
95	Mezcalero 9L	Arroqueno
96	Mezcales de Leyenda Durango	Durangensis
97	Mezcales de Leyenda Guerrero	Cupreata
98	Mezcaloteca	Tepeztate
99	Mezcaloteca	Coyote
100	Mezcaloteca	Espadin Con Mole
101	Mezcaloteca	Tobasiche
102	Mezcaloteca	Paplome
103	Mezcaloteca	Amarillo
104	Mezcaloteca	Cuixe
105	Mezcaloteca	Madrecuishe, Bicuishe, Espadin
106	Mezcaloteca	Madrecuixe
107	Mezcologia	Espadin
108	Mistique	Tepeztate
109	Mistique	Arroqueno
110	Mistique	Barril, Espadin
111	Nizabisahio	Arroqueno
112	Nuestra Soledad – Ejulta	Espadin
113	Ocho Cientos Sotol Reposado	Sotol
114	PapaDiablo	Espadin, Bicuise, Madrecuixe
115	Pierde Almas	Espadin
116	Pierde Almas	de Lumbre
117	Pierde Almas	Espadin & Mexicano Pechuga
118	Pierde Almas	Tequilana Weber
119	Pierde Almas	Dobadaan
120	Pierde Almas Botanicals	Espadin
121	Real Minero	Largo
122	Real Minero	Espadin, Largo, Tripon, Barril
123	Real Minero	Arroqueno
124	Rey Campero	Jabali
125	Rey Campero	Mexicano
126	Rey Campero	Cuishe
127	Rey Campero	Tepeztate
128	Sacacuento	Espadin
129	Sacacuento Anejo	Espadin
130	Secretos de Yegole	Mexicano Pebca Largo
131	Shawi	Espadin
132	Sien Piedad	Espadin
133	Siete Misterios	Arroqueno
134	Vicio	Espadin
135	Viejo Indecente	Madrecuixe, Espadin
136	Wahaka	Espadin Manzanita (apple infusion)
137	Wahaka	Espadin Botaniko (botanicals infusion)
138	Wahaka	Tobala
139	Wahaka	Ensemble
140	Wahaka – Vino de Mezcal	Wild Espadin Pechuga with Mole Poblano
141	Wahaka – Vino de Mezcal	Lechuguilla
142	Yuu Baal	Madrecuixe