Smooth - is one of the first words that people use to describe mezcal or any other alcohol, thinking “How difficult is this to drink?” Alcohol newcomers using ‘smooth’ to describe their experience is ok, but it doesn’t communicate much information and shouldn’t be used by a brand to describe their product.
Wild - refers to agaves that are neither cultivated nor semi-cultivated. Many brands intentionally misuse this term to refer to any agave that isn’t Espadín, regardless of how the plant was grown.
Gold Medal (or any awards) - Most awards are industry gimmicks, and winning them does nothing to communicate to a consumer the quality of the final product or of the work being done.
Terroir - this misnomer is borrowed from the wine industry, and doesn’t apply as neatly to mezcal since the primary facets of terroir (soil type, topography, climate, local flora) are not the primary reasons for flavor variance in mezcal (which are Person, Place, Plant, Process, Priorities).
Traditional - traditional generally refers to a continuation of the ways of previous generations. However, traditional can refer to innumerable factors so it’s often used ambiguously and thus loses its meaning.
Heritage - This credit is often applied to attempt to differentiate one brand from its peers, when in reality almost all mezcal producers have heritage in their trade.
Fair Trade - This wording is ambiguous. Brands or labels can and should be more specific about the methods by which they trade fairly with the people who do the majority of the work.
Organic - All traditional mezcal is organic, certifying it so is only for the sake of an international consumer and doesn’t actually set a brand or bottle apart.
Silver/Gold - These are americanized versions of blanco/reposado when referring to how long a product has been aged. Ideally, brands would use the native language of the producers of the spirit.