Illegal

30 ml (1 oz) mezcal (joven/espadín)
15 ml (0.5 oz) Jamaica overproof white rum
15 ml (0.5 oz) fresh lime juice
15 ml (0.5 oz) Maraschino liqueur
10 ml (~0.25 oz) simple syrup
1 egg white

🧃🧃🧃

Notes

Created by Phil Ward at Death & Co in New York, where he was one of the first bartenders to put mezcal at the center of a refined cocktail menu. The drink is essentially a mezcal-rum Last Word riff, with the smoky agave spirit and funky overproof rum playing off the cherry sweetness of Maraschino, while egg white rounds everything into a silky texture. The name nods both to the outlaw spirit of mezcal's artisanal production and Prohibition-era cocktail culture. Its addition to the IBA New Era Drinks list helped cement mezcal's arrival as a serious cocktail ingredient on the world stage.