What does mezcal mean to you?
This burning question guides Ivan Vasquez’s life as the founder of L.A.’s most extensive, Oaxacan-owned mezcal collection, found spread across the walls of his Madre restaurants in Palms, Torrance, West Hollywood, and Santa Clarita.
Each location has more than 450 mezcals and other agave distillates, including extremely rare agaves that take 40 years to reach maturity and fetch $1,720 a bottle.
Since Vasquez opened his first restaurant nine years ago, he’s been the most vocal critic of the industrialization and Americanization of agave, including controversial, scorched-earth-style tactics like naming brands and their owners on his Instagram account.
Nearly a decade of ardent agave advocacy later, addressing the Indigenous socioeconomics and politics that so many spirits brands sweep under the rug, Vasquez’s life work is set to culminate in his first (and maybe only) Mezcal Por Siempre tasting festival, taking place in Frogtown over Mexico’s independence weekend, beginning September 14.
This will be the world's first mezcal-centered event that features 16 actual mezcal distillers from every corner of Mexico all under one roof, and not the brand ambassadors, investors, or their PR.
"As time passes, you see the commercial direction where mezcal is going," Vasquez tells L.A. TACO. "It’s more important than ever to have the maestro mezcaleros and let them talk. Not the brands, but the Indigenous people with multi-generational knowledge."
"You can touch the hands of these producers," he continues. "You can feel the pain in their hands from the countless hours of backbreaking work early in the morning and late into the night.”
Vasquez assures us that anyone with a visa, who is still alive, will be at Mezcal Por Siempre, noting how far mezcal has grown in popularity from the 1970s to today.
“It’s never been about the influencers or the owners; it’s always been about the campesinos and those who work the land, so it’s time to bring the conversation back to them," Vasquez says. "A market in L.A. is anxious to learn about agave distillates. It’s a social movement associated with the act of resisting. I want my kids to enjoy mezcal the way I enjoyed it. It’s the most complex spirit in the world because of the time and process it takes.”
Many mezcal lovers stop the conversation at how much the agave industry is growing in the U.S. and Europe. But for Vasquez, this is where he shines, fearless in discussing the insatiable demand from the U.S. and Europe, while addressing the darker side that can come with that rising demand, in terms of sustainability, deforestation, and water rights amid extreme droughts in Oaxaca.
Vasquez considers Mezcal Por Siempre a historical event.
His long list of respected mezcal producers planing to be in attendance includes the first return to California of Eduardo Ángeles, the fourth-generation master distiller of Lalocura, who lived in San Jose in the 90s. (A bottle of Lalocura, on average, goes for $170 or more). Ángeles is credited as the creator of ancestral-level mezcal, which is only distilled in clay pots and is 100% sustainable).
Vasquez tells L.A. TACO that it took months of negotiation to confirm him and his estranged brother, Edgar Ángeles de Real Minero.
“I don’t think they both know they’ll be coming to the same event," he says. "But it’s too late to go back now since they confirmed. Mezcal matriarch and master distiller Berta Vasquez behind Cuish and Agua del Sol will also take the four-hour flight from Oaxaca to OaxaCalifornia.
As if Mezcal Por Siempre wasn’t enough of an international destination for agave nerds around the world, Pedro Jiménez Gurría, owner of what many consider to be the “best mezcal bar in the world,” Pare de Sufrir in Guadalajara, will also be bringing his world-famous disco ball to Los Angeles for one night only to sparkle at the event.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull this off again ever in my life, to pull producers from northern, central, and southern regions of Mexico—including sotol and raicilla [distillers]—under one roof,” Vasquez says.
On board with Vasquez’s philosophy that upholds mezcal tradition, there will be absolutely no mezcal under 45% ABV or any mezcales reposado or añejo.
Find the list of all the maestro mezcaleros and your ticket for Mezcal Por Siempre here.
