El Caporal – Marca Negra Mezcal

The Godfather is an almost classic combination of scotch and amaretto. So, I thought I have a go at some variations. The one drink is pretty much the original Godfather with just a splash of orange eau de vie added to it. However, the second cocktail is quite different from the authentic one. On top of that, it also features the bartender’s favourite spirit mezcal.

For the more extreme variation I used mezcal from Marca Negra. It is made from Espadin agaves from Luis del Rio, Tlacolula and Oaxaca. The production is done by Abel Nolasco, Basilio Pacheco, Francisco Mendez, Isaias Martinez Juan and Jorge Mendez. All agaves are ground in Tahona mills and the distillation takes place in copper stills with or without a Refrescador. The Mezcalero and the ABV may vary from bottle to bottle. In my case the mezcal comes from Oaxaca.

Smoke and fruits

The Marca Negra Espadin tastes like you would expect from a mezcal: There is smoke, the typical glue notes and a lot of overripe fruits. You definitely notice the higher proof with some menthol notes. However, this also gives the mezcal enough power to stand up to other ingredients in a cocktail. Since, agave notes work very well with quince, I added quince gin from the Ascaim Distillery to the “Mexican Godfather”. For the amaretto in the drink I chose the classic Disaronno. While it is on the sweeter side, it has a lot of marzipan flavours with a touch of bitter almonds and roses.

Indeed, the quince notes of the gin liqueur work very well with the smoky agave notes of the mezcal. On top of that, the marzipan flavours of the amaretto adds to the complexity. The drink is on the sweeter side and therefore can use quite a lot of ice in the glass.

Orange marzipan

For the second drink, I chose a more classic approach to the Godfather. For the “Sicilian Godfather” I added a blood orange eau de vie from the Wiesmeier distillery. The spirit distilled from fermented blood oranges also carries some marzipan flavours which work very well with the amaretto. The Isle of Jura single malt also is a solid choice for this Godfather variation. Its bourbon barrel and sherry notes work quite well with the other ingredients without overpowering them.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Amaretto, Mezcal and Whisky were provided by Borco-Marken-Import and the Quince Gin by the Ascaim Distillery.