Emma Janzen is your guide to the bartender's best kept secret, the spirit everyone has been missing out on and it's called Mezcal. See what sets this cousin of tequila apart from the rest of the pack.

Produced in Mexico for centuries but little known elsewhere until recent years, mezcal has captured the imagination of spirits enthusiasts with its astonishing complexities. And while big liquor is beginning to jump aboard the bandwagon, most mezcal is still artisanal in nature, produced using small-batch techniques handed down for generations, often with agave plants harvested in the wild.