Smoked Agave

Smoke is the hard part of any mezcal alternative, and Fluère gets there with hickory. The base is that vegetal agave sweetness with a hint of black pepper behind it, then smoked hickory wood layers on the earthy richness that separates a mezcal style bottle from a tequila style one. Treat it the way you would treat the real thing in a long drink. A paloma with grapefruit soda and a salted rim works, so does an alcohol free margarita with enough fresh lime to cut the sweetness. Sipping it neat is not the play. Fluère distils every botanical separately in Amsterdam using hydro steam distillation before blending, and tunnel pasteurisation gives an unopened bottle a shelf life of roughly two years.