I wouldn’t typically describe any jabali as “smooth” or “vanilla.” There is NO other way to describe this mezcal. I picked up the bottle from a local bottle barn for $108 and am not disappointed in the least. It’s an unexpected surprise.

I’ll take the Buho espadin happily as a sipper or in a cocktail. As an added bonus, you can find this bottle in a larger one liter offering for about $40-50 online, which I would consider an absolute steal. The smokiness is slightly shy relative to the rest of this list, but there’s still enough to satisfy.

I found a great place to buy mezcal up in Northern California called Bottle Barn, where I ran into this bottle. Most reviews out there said it was very vegetal in taste with a particularly strong bell pepper taste. I thought there was no way it would taste like bell peppers. Sure enough, dead on. The initial flavor is heavily vegetal with a floral nose, and the finish is nothing other than green bell pepper. For under $100, surprisingly smooth and high quality. Would recommend anytime.