Looking back at the last time the spirits panel tasted mezcal, I was shocked to realize that almost a decade had passed. The flavors and the sense of discovery we experienced still seemed so fresh.

Yet so much has changed since that tasting in 2010. Back then, mezcal was described as “the next big thing.” It finally arrived, and with such an impact that the trend authorities over at New York magazine recently deemed it passé, at least as a cocktail ingredient.

From the consumer’s view, the world of mezcal in 2020 is radically different from that of 10 years ago. Del Maguey, which 25 years ago pioneered the discovery and marketing in the United States of small-production, geographically specific bottles, is still going strong, though its visionary founder, Ron Cooper, sold a controlling interest in the brand to the beverage giant Pernod Ricard in 2017.

Rather than packaging his discoveries as a luxury brand or with celebrity tie-ins in the fashion of tequila, mezcal’s agave cousin, Mr. Cooper emphasized the cultural significance of mezcal, highlighting its ability — through traditional, laborious methods of production — to transmit the character of a place and a people.