Mezcal emerges from tequila's shadow as Mexican production grows

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This is an updated mentation of a communicative archetypal published connected Sept. 29, 2024. The archetypal video tin beryllium viewed here.

For years, mezcal sat successful the shadiness of its fashionable relative tequila …known for its worm…and deemed excessively smokey for a spot connected the aforesaid support arsenic premium spirits. But not anymore. Once banned and aboriginal sold successful integrative jugs for pennies, the handcrafted tone has recovered its mode into cocktail bars and Michelin-starred restaurants. As we archetypal told you past year, nary different liquor has seen a greater summation successful accumulation successful the past decade. Mezcal gets its sanction from the Aztec connection for cooked agave-- a thorny works ineffable to Mexico for thousands of years. The immense bulk of mezcal is made successful the confederate authorities of Oaxaca… wherever family-owned distilleries dot the landscape. Cecilia Vega went to conscionable the mezcaleros arsenic they labour to quench the world's thirst for mezcal.

Mezcaleros harvest agave twelvemonth circular but it's nary low-hanging fruit. Pried from the earth, the spikes are removed by machete…revealing the bosom - the piña - which looks similar a 100 lb pineapple…Agave takes its saccharine clip to ripen, up to 30 years for immoderate varieties. It grows successful the valleys that tally betwixt the Sierra Madre mountains-- Here successful Oaxaca, the crossroads of indigenous and romance assemblage cultures, the birthplace of mezcal. And Santiago Matatlan is its cradle.

The Hernandez brothers, Armando and Alvaro - are fourth-generation mezcaleros from an indigenous Zapotec family. They learned the trade from their father, Silverio. Today they tally Mal de Amor, 1 of Matatlán's largest distilleries, oregon palenques.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): We marque mezcal without hurry, meaning everything successful its time. We don't adhd oregon bash thing to velocity up production. But we marque it nonstop - 365 days a year, the full day.

Cecilia Vega: Is it antithetic from the mode your begetter made it?

Alvaro Hernandez: No.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): No, it's the same. We conserve each the traditions, everything we were taught. And everything is done by hand.

Agave was archetypal distilled present successful the 1600s …Mexicans person been drinking mezcal astatine baptisms, funerals and each juncture successful betwixt ever since. And let's wide this up early: tequila is a type of mezcal, made with bluish agave mostly successful the authorities of Jalisco. But astir tequila has been wide produced, made by machines, since the 70s.

Artisanal mezcal resists machinery – the agave is roasted successful underground pits for days, past it's crushed by horse-drawn mill. The mash is fermented successful woody barrels… and distilled doubly successful copper vats. No somesthesia dials oregon controls…bubbles bespeak the intoxicant content.

Cecilia Vega: Who knows much astir the process?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): I deliberation helium whitethorn cognize much But I portion it more. (laugh)

At Mal de Amor, they connection Napa-style tours of their agave fields. Mezcal is present a fractional cardinal dollar a twelvemonth industry... but successful the 1980s and 90s, Armando and Alvaro told america accumulation of mezcal could hardly enactment the family.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): The terms of mezcal was precise low. It was miserable.

Cecilia Vega: What was it?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): 7 pesos for a liter of mezcal.

Cecilia Vega: Less than a dollar.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): And we were 10 children. Sunday was the lone time we could spend a cupful of beverage and a portion of bread. So we decided to go.

Armando near Mexico first, alone-- bound for California.

Cecilia Vega: Do you retrieve the time you left?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): Yes, it was the 3rd of December 1992. I was 12 years old. I person children of my ain present and I could ne'er bring myself to fto them transverse the borderline alone. It was a bittersweet goodbye. Very achy to permission the household behind.

Cecilia Vega: How did you get there?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish): Como todo migrante

Cecilia Vega: Con coyote?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): Like each migrants…With a coyote, smuggled crossed the border…

Alvaro yet joined him successful Los Angeles...they spent a decennary moving successful bars and restaurants, when…the crippled twisted: artisanal became hip, and mezcal's popularity boomed. Alvaro began to imagination astir returning to the household business.

Alvaro Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): I had plans drawn up for the palenque and I showed Armando.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): Alvaro came successful with a program for his palenque, and helium dispersed it connected the furniture and said, "I'm going to bash this" And I told him, "You're crazy. How are you going to marque a living?"

Armando was skeptical…until helium noticed shots of mezcal going for $10each…he says helium looked down astatine the statement connected a vessel 1 day, and it was from their hometown.

Cecilia Vega: And you yet told your brother, "I told you so." (laughter)

Alvaro Hernandez (in Spanish) : Sí, te lo dije. (laugh)

So Armando and Alvaro went backmost location to ramp up the household palenque.

Enter John Rexer and Gilberto Marquez, of the mezcal marque Ilegal...made from 100% espadin, the assortment of agave that ripens the fastest.

Cecilia Vega: So however acold retired does the Ilegal agave go? I mean, is this each Ilegal?

Gilberto Marquez: Yeah. There's about-- 2,500 plants per acre. There's astir 5 acres retired here.

Cecilia Vega: This is simply a batch of espadin, right?

Today, Olegal is 1 of the top-selling mezcal brands. but it, too, started humbly. Rexer - an expat New Yorker - was successful hunt of a dependable proviso of mezcal to service astatine a barroom helium owned successful Guatemala.

John Rexer: I would instrumentality a autobus up from Guatemala. It's a 24-hour autobus ride. Along the way, you tin propulsion a drawstring successful that autobus and say, "I wanna halt here." Walk to a village. Wait until lights came connected determination and say, "Hey, bash you cognize anybody who makes bully mezcal astir here?" And invariably, idiosyncratic would person an uncle, a brother, a cousin.

Cecilia Vega: Tengo un Tio

John Rexer: Tengo un Tio (laugh) Sí. Yeah, that's precisely it.

Cecilia Vega: Everybody has an uncle.

As the sanction connected the vessel suggests, Rexer's cognition wasn't precisely legal.

Cecilia Vega: Is it existent that you erstwhile dressed similar a clergyman to person to get this crossed a border?

John Rexer: Listen, I went done 12 years of Catholic school.

Cecilia Vega: Me too--

John Rexer: I knew however to play the role…

It was his person Gilberto Marquez who introduced him to the Hernandez brothers

John Rexer: And we rolled down present And it was very, very, precise tiny. And they were making-- precise tiny amounts.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): And helium asks me, "Do you person much of this mezcal?" And we said, "Yes, we person 10,000 liters and it took america similar 2 years to make. And John says to us, "I privation it all!"

A sidebar, and this whitethorn spell without saying, but Rexer has swigged his just stock of mezcal.

John Rexer: (Cough) Excuse me…

Cecilia Vega: Do you privation a water? Yeah, no. Take a break, you're good. He's similar "Do I privation a water?"

John Rexer: You know, there's an expression, the champion mezcal is the 1 successful beforehand of you. It's not wholly true. You don't privation to screen it successful smoke, You privation to sensation the agave.

Cecilia Vega: A lotta radical accidental they don't similar mezcal due to the fact that of the smoke.

John Rexer: Obviously, you're successful a smoky environment, right? When you excavation up the pit oven there's fume everywhere. So there's a batch of aboriginal mezcals that came into the States that are dense smoked.

Cecilia Vega: Has mezcal gotten a atrocious rap connected that front?

John Rexer: I deliberation successful the aboriginal days, it did. But radical began to observe nary the agaves person peculiarly unsocial flavors.

Rexer asked brothers Armando and Alvaro to spell into concern -- and helium made a promise: if they could nutrient the mezcal, he'd merchantability it astir the world. They'd been burned by mendacious promises before, truthful they weighed his connection successful their autochthonal language.

Cecilia Vega: You spoke successful Zapotec truthful helium wouldn't understand?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): I said to Alvaro successful Zapotec, "Do you judge him?" And helium said "I don't know." But we figured, let's see.

John Rexer: I said, "Listen, I'll wage you upfront truthful that we tin get started.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): Two days later, we had the deposit successful our relationship for each 10,000 liters. He said each period I'll support making deposits." So we made much - 500 liters, a thousand, 2 thousand. And it grew similar that.

Now their concern produces 3,000 bottles of mezcal a day, astir each of them for export. And each vessel is certified by the Mexican authorities - stamped with a hologram to people denomination of origin… similar champagne oregon cognac.

We'd heard determination are rules astir however to portion this artisanal mezcal. The bully worldly isn't for shots oregon diluting successful cocktails. It's for sipping. So we asked Marquez… the erstwhile bartender who present promotes Ilegal.

Cecilia Vega: Favorite mode to portion it.

Gilberto Marquez: Spicy margarita.

Cecilia Vega: Oh. Wait a second, I thought you weren't expected to portion mezcal successful a margarita.

Gilberto Marquez: You bash wanna bask mezcal neat. But there's thing incorrect with having it successful a cocktail, particularly if we're trying to get folks to effort it for the archetypal time. It's an instauration to mezcal.

Marquez poured america a joven, the colorless mezcal you'll find successful astir bottles…

Gil Marquez: This is-- 100% espadin.

Cecilia Vega: So joven means young.

Gilberto Marquez: Joven means young, unaged.

Cecilia Vega: Salud--

Gilberto Marquez: Salud. (clink)

Cecilia Vega: This 1 tastes spicy to me.

Gilberto Marquez: So fume is not the archetypal happening that you taste…

Cecilia Vega: It's decidedly determination but I would not telephone this smokey.

Gilberto Marquez: Yes.

Aging mezcal is simply a Mexican tradition. Ilegal does it successful American Oak, the aforesaid mode bourbon is made.

John Rexer: So this is the añejo. And this is aged 15 months.

Cecilia Vega: Color is decidedly darker.

John Rexer: Yep.

Cecilia Vega: Wow. So good. How would you portion this one?

John Rexer: Absolutely neat, 100%.

Cecilia Vega: Has anyone ever said to you, "Hey, what's a gringo similar you doin'--"

John Rexer: "In a spot similar this?"

Cecilia Vega: --"sellin' Oaxaca-- (laugh) Oaxacan mezcal?"

John Rexer: Yes. I've gotten pushback implicit the years. "You're a foreigner."

But I'm idiosyncratic who fell successful emotion with the bushed and the gait of Oaxaca. And fell successful emotion with mezcal.

He's nary longer the lone foreigner successful this partnership. Bacardi, the largest privately held planetary spirits company, acquired Ilegal past twelvemonth successful a woody worthy a reported $100 million.

John Rexer: When we started to turn the brand, 1 of the questions I asked myself was, "How bash you autumn successful emotion with thing and past not destruct the happening you fell successful emotion with by making it grow?"

Cecilia Vega: Can you bash that with an planetary conglomerate similar Bacardi?

John Rexer: I deliberation it's a large question. Because it's not conscionable a beauteous liquor but it's definite things that we're trying to sphere and judge in. This is simply a household business. We person to respect the artisanal production. We tin ne'er fto this go industrial.

Cecilia Vega: What does the woody with Bacardi mean for you?

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): What's going to alteration is galore people's lives successful this community. It is simply a payment for the full community.

The palenque present employs a 100 radical from Matatlán and beyond. Including their 87-year-old father, the mezcalero emeritus. Armando and Alvaro translated from Zapotec to Spanish. We asked what Senor Hernandez thought of his sons' mezcal.

Cecilia Vega: Does it unrecorded up to the household name?

Silverio Hernandez (English translation): "That's wherefore I portion it. If not, I wouldn't portion it."

The Hernandez brothers are expanding the household palenque…construction is already underway.

Cecilia Vega: So if there's the American dream, is this the Mexican dream?

Armando and Alvaro Hernandez: Sueño Mexicano.

Armando Hernandez (in Spanish/English translation): It's the Mexican dream. It's thing we ne'er imagined.

We're bittersweet to study Silverio Hernandez, patriarch of the Hernandez family, died successful March. His sons accidental his bequest volition unrecorded connected successful each driblet of their mezcal.

Produced by Nathalie Sommer and Kaylee Tully. Broadcast associate, Katie Jahns. Edited by Peter M. Berman.

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