MEZCAL DENOMINATION OF ORIGIN

The mezcal world is different from where it was in 1994. For example, I recently met someone who had actually heard of it! Wahoo! We are making progress and the industry is energizing in the right direction to create a mezcal regulatory framework that is separate and distinct from tequila, while also recognizing the unique characteristics and history of mezcal.

With that quick backdrop, the other night I attended a small gathering (maybe 15 people) at Salon Hecho where Juan Lozoya, the secretary of COMERCAM (now CRM) was going to discuss the proposed changes to the NOM. But Juan’s flight was delayed so Danny Mena, owner of Salon Hecho as well the fine brand Mezcales de Leyenda, opted to pinch hit for Juan. Danny has been very involved with the process and is well-versed on the proposed new NOM. He gave an excellent presentation and also noted comments from the audience of brand owners, importers, distributors, bartenders, and store owners, among others.

I will start with the proposed 3 new Categories for mezcal as these are the most important pieces to the new NOM. Keep in mind, today we just have one general category called Mezcal, which captures everything from industrial mezcals to small batch mezcals made in rural communities. In the current law and with this new proposal, a producer will still have to go through the certification process to put “mezcal” on the label, but now there will be 3 categories of mezcal. Here are the proposed Categories with the specifically allowed production techniques for each Category: