Editing Mezcal (section)

==Regulation==
[[File:Maguey landscape.jpg|thumb|right|A typical maguey landscape]]
[[File:Elaboración de mezcal - Alambique y destilador.jpg|thumb|Modern copper [[alembic]]-type still used to distill {{lang|es|mezcal artesanal}}]]
Internationally, mezcal has been recognized as an [[Appellation of Origin]] (AO, DO) since 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=9317 |title=Resolution granting Protection of the Appellation of Origin 'Mezcal', to be applied to Alcoholic Beverages of the same Name (MX083)}}</ref><ref name="mx082">{{cite web |url=http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/details.jsp?id=9316 |title=Modifications to the General Declaration on the Protection of the Appellation of Origin "Mezcal" published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 28 November 1994 (MX082)}}</ref> There is also a Geographical Indication (GI), originally limited to the states of [[Oaxaca]], [[Guerrero]], [[Durango]], [[San Luis Potosí]], [[Puebla]] and [[Zacatecas]]. Similar products are made in Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas, but these have not been included in the mezcal DO.<ref name="mx082"/>

Traditionally the word "mezcal" has been used generally in Mexico for all agave spirits and it continues to be used for many agave spirits whether these spirits have been legally certified as "mezcal" or not.<ref name="mezcalistas">{{cite web |url=https://www.mezcalistas.com/when-does-a-mezcal-deserve-to-be-a-mezcal/|title=When does a mezcal deserve to be a mezcal? |author=Max Garrone |date=31 October 2018 |publisher=mezcalistas.com |access-date=8 June 2021}}</ref> Within Mexico, mezcal is regulated under [[Norma Oficial Mexicana]] (NOM) regulations, originally NOM-070-SCFI-1994 (in 1994), by the industry body Consejo Mexicano Regulador de la Calidad del Mezcal A.C. (COMERCAM, the Mexican Regulatory Council for Mezcal Quality). This regulation became law in 2003, and certification began in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mezcalphd.com/2013/05/what-is-mezcal-and-why-is-it-happening-now/ |title=What Is Mezcal and Why Is It Happening Now?|date=9 May 2013 }}</ref>

Modern mezcal is divided into three categories certified by the Norma Oficial Mexicana:<ref name="Mezcal Basics"/><ref name="Maxwell"/>

* '''Mezcal''' – For mezcal produced with high-efficiency modern production methods and modern equipment like [[autoclave]]s, diffusers, and stainless steel or copper [[column still]]s. It is sometimes derisively referred to as "industrial mezcal" ({{lang|es|mezcal industrial}}).
* '''Artisanal mezcal''' ({{lang|es|mezcal artesanal}}) – For mezcal produced using artisanal stills.  Autoclaves, diffusers, and column stills are prohibited. The agave hearts must be cooked in pit hearths or clay/brick ovens. Milling must be done with mallets, stone mills, or mechanical mills. The juice must be fermented in animal skins or pits or tanks made with stone, clay, or wood. The most common types of stills used are the copper or stainless steel [[alembic]]-type stills (used by the vast majority), the modified {{lang|es|refrescador}} alembic-type stills with a {{lang|es|refrescadera}} (a cylinder of continuously flowing cold water surrounding the still head), and the Filipino-type stills. Mezcal produced in this way are distilled once, twice, or thrice, depending on the regional tradition, but the most common number of distillations is twice. The vast majority of certified mezcal belong to this category.
* '''Ancestral mezcal''' ({{lang|es|mezcal ancestral}}) – For mezcal produced completely by traditional methods. Stainless steel and modern equipment are prohibited. This requires the agave hearts to be pit-cooked and crushed by mallets or stone mills. The juice must be fermented in animal skins or pits or tanks made with stone, clay, or wood. It must only be distilled using Filipino-type stills made of clay or wood. 

Artisanal and ancestral mezcal are preferred due to the fact that the use of traditional materials like wood and clay impart and absorb flavors during distillation. Copper is also preferred for the metal parts of the stills as they remove undesirable sulfur flavors during distillation and do not impart flavors of their own to the product. Almost all artisanal and traditional stills use a copper component.<ref name="Lampert">{{cite book |last1=Lampert |first1=Tess Rose |title=The Essential Tequila & Mezcal Companion: How to Select, Collect & Savor Agave Spirits |date=2023 |publisher=Union Square & Co. |isbn=9781454945413}}</ref>

The three categories are further subdivided into six additional classes:<ref name="Mezcal Basics"/><ref name="Maxwell"/>

* '''{{lang|es|Blanco}}''' ("white") or '''{{lang|es|Joven}}''' ("young") – refers unaged and unadulterated mezcal. Most mezcal belong to this class.
* '''{{lang|es|Madurado en vidrio}}''' ("matured in glass") – refers to mezcal stored in glass for a year or more buried underground or in a location with minimal variation in temperature, light, and humidity. Burying is a traditional method for softening mezcal without reducing alcohol content.
* '''{{lang|es|Reposado}}''' ("rested") – refers to mezcal stored in a wooden vessel of any type or size for between 2 months to a year.
* '''{{lang|es|Añejo}}''' ("aged") – refers to mezcal stored in a wooden vessel of less than {{convert|1000|L|gal|abbr=on}} for more than a year.
* '''{{lang|es|Abocado}}''' ("easy to drink") – refers to mezcal that is flavored or infused with other ingredients. NOM specifically permits [[Maguey worm|maguey "worms"]], [[damiana]], [[Lime (fruit)|lime]], [[Orange (fruit)|orange]], [[mango]], and [[honey]]; but other fruits, herbs, and [[caramel]] are also commonly added.
* '''{{lang|es|Destilado con}}''' ("distilled with") or '''{{lang|es|Mezcales de pechuga}}''' ("[[Chicken as food#Edible components|chicken breast]] mezcal") – refers to mezcal where the second or third distillation includes other ingredients like fruit, meat (hence the name), or herbs. This process is traditional.

The regulations have been controversial, not only from small artisanal producers for whom the cost of certification is prohibitive, but also from traditional producers outside the chosen GI states and those producers who believe that the term "mezcal" should not be owned by the state. Uncertified producers are prohibited from using the term "mezcal" on their products. Some producers and importers have responded by labeling their products as "destilados de agave" or "agave spirits", a category now recognized by the United States' TTB and in increasing use.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://mezcalistas.com/the-ttb-blesses-destilado-de-agave/ | title= The TTB refines standards for agave spirits | author= Susan Coss: Mezcalistas.com | date= 10 December 2018 }}</ref>

In Canada, products that are labelled, packaged, sold or advertised as Mezcal must be manufactured in Mexico as mezcal under the stipulated guidelines. However, Canadian laws also allow for local bottling and resale of imported mezcal, after its [[Alcohol by volume|alcohol percentage]] has been adjusted with the addition of distilled or purified water.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Minister of Justice
 | title = Food and Drug Regulations
 | url= https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._870/page-20.html#h-569941
 | access-date = 11 July 2023}}</ref>
Currently uncertified agave spirits labeled as "destilados de agave" or "agave spirits" can also be bottled in the United States.