Mezcal Unión is pretty solid-selling mezcal in Mexico, but it’s only just started making inroads in California, via The Mezco Group, which also imports the Enmascarado brand.

Produced in San Baltazar, Oaxaca, Unión is made by a group of families with—like most mezcal makers—generations of distlling experience. At less than $40 per bottle here in the US, it’s pretty great, and I’m sad that I wasn’t able to include it in this story, because it definitely deserves a place among these other fine yet extremely affordable mezcals.

Of huge note is the fact that Unión is actually an ensamble of two maguey varietals—the standard espadín along with 20% wild cirial, which takes about 20 years to mature. As is to be expected, that added bit of cirial really rounds out the flavor profile. It’s got a sweet nose with a whiff of smoke and just a touch of rubber (in a good way), but on your tongue it’s minty, bright, slightly citrusy and tannic, and has a long finish. Plus, at 40% ABV, it won’t knock you over if you drink it neat.

But that said, Mezcal Unión shines really well in cocktails. I used it in Dominic Alling’s Port of Spain cocktail (which originated at Beretta in San Francisco), and it provided a lovely herbaceous oomph and complexity as it vied for space with the heavy dose of Angostura bitters. For $36, it’s hard to go wrong with this mezcal.