Reviews / Gusano Rojo Mezcal

Review · · by The Editors

Gusano Rojo Mezcal

The worm bottle – a retail relic, not a mezcal

Score: 1.5/5 agaves

Gusano Rojo Mezcal bottle
  • Producer: Gusano Rojo Mezcal
  • Region: Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca
  • Agave: Espadin
  • ABV: 38%
  • Price: $40 ($)

Verdict

Gusano Rojo is a shelf artifact, not a sipping spirit. The worm-in-the-bottle lineage is a 1940s marketing trick that still moves cases in gas-station liquor stores, and the liquid inside is engineered to those economics. Skip. Literally any other mezcal in this report is a better use of $25.

Gusano Rojo is a shelf artifact, not a sipping spirit

Tasting notes

Nose: Industrial smoke with sugar, a trace of something vegetal

Palate: 38-40% abocado with a worm – the category at its most cynical. The liquid tastes like a liquid-store-and-weed-shop bottle, because that's what it is

Finish: Sweet, clean-ish – short

The bottom line

Skip

Where to buy online

We found this bottle at 1 US retailer. Prices and stock vary – click through to check.