mescal vs John Barleycorn

mescal and John Barleycorn both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mescal	Yes	No	No	No
John Barleycorn	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, John Barleycorn is a hypernym of mescal; that is, John Barleycorn is a word with a broader meaning than mescal:

mescal: a colorless Mexican liquor distilled from fermented juices of certain desert plants of the genus Agavaceae (especially the century plant)
John Barleycorn: an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented

Other hypernyms of mescal include booze, hard drink, hard liquor, liquor, spirits, strong drink.

mescal (noun)	John Barleycorn (noun)
a colorless Mexican liquor distilled from fermented juices of certain desert plants of the genus Agavaceae (especially the century plant)	an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented
a small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal buttons