Mal Bien - Tequilero (Victor + Emanuel Ramos)

Mengolí de Morelos, Miahuatlán, Oaxaca 0722VFR, 47.5%, 267 bottles, July, 2022 While the first tequilana agaves arrived in Miahuatlán in the 1980s, it was the ongoing boom and bust cycles of Jalisco’s agave prices in the 1990s and 2000s that led many tequila producers to seek more steadily available and price stable sources for blue weber agaves. Even though they were far outside the boundaries of tequila’s denomination of origin, the talents of Miahuatlán’s magueyeros were well-known, and deals were made to send them tequilana clones, which they would raise and sell back to the tequila brands. Local mezcaleros found they enjoyed working with the plants, and continue to work with the plants, including this batch made by Victor from agaves grown in Mengolí. Victor and his son Emanuel are the 3rd and 4th generations of the Ramos family to produce mezcal in the Miahuatlán district of Oaxaca. They are related to the neighboring Cortes Family by way of Victor’s wife (Emanuel’s mother), Cleo