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.