mescal vs hard liquor

mescal and hard liquor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mescal	Yes	No	No	No
hard liquor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, hard liquor is a hypernym of mescal; that is, hard liquor 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)
hard liquor: an alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented

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

mescal (noun)	hard liquor (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