Mezcal Verde

Water disappears into the rock.

Cool mist coming off the jungle floor, beading on the glass. Water runs fast over limestone and then drops out of sight altogether, into the cenotes underneath.

Limon is the sharp green at the front, nearer the rind than the juice. Fern and violet leaf stack up behind it, wet and stemmy and cold. White sage dries that back out, and birch incense drapes across the top the way crushed leaves do once somebody has walked through them.

These are jungle leaves, and they hang in the air as a veil. The green holds all the way down and the cold holds most of it.

Kelly+Jones starts at the wine bar. The house began in a vineyard, where a winemaker scolded its founder for wearing fragrance while tasting, and the fragrance met the wine in the glass instead of fighting it. Kelly Jones has built the agave and supper-club releases around a particular hour, a particular room and a particular drink, and hands the composing to noses at Takasago and IFF.

Everything is hand-poured in the USA, free of parabens and phthalates, and carries a detailed ingredient list on every product page and every carton. The Eau de Mezcal line is built as a tribute to agave spirits artisans and their land, and a portion of every sale in it goes to Programa Vaca, which helps rebuild in Mexico's remote rural areas using natural materials.