So long NOM-199, we hardly knew ya!
Taking everyone by surprise, on February 25th the Mexican government canceled NOM-199 which had gone into effect at the end of 2020. To refresh memories, NOM-199 was the regulation years in the making to oversee the alcohol industry in Mexico:
The taxing of Mezcal – are changes afoot?
You've probably heard it mentioned before that taxes on mezcal are very high but in Mexico, they're astronomical. There are two different taxes levied on alcohol, the Impuesto Especial en Productos y Servicios or IEPS, puts a 53% tax on
CRM fined by Mexican government over marketing campaign
Over the weekend there was big news out of Mexico in the world of mezcal, the Director General de Normas fined the CRM for misleading and deceptive marketing practices regarding their hologram campaign as well as other behavior. The fines
Tequila in name only?
The latest experiment in making a tequila outside of the appellation comes to us courtesy of Clayton Szczech who, when he's not guiding agave spirits tours, operating his bar La Cata in the town of Tequila, or consulting on various
Saving mezcal is a communal effort
The below post is by contributing author Joahna Hernandez who is based in CDMX. We met Joahna several years ago when we produced our first Mexico in a Bottle event in Washington, DC. She is the founder ofManos de Maiz,
The rise of the destilados
As the world of mezcal turns we’re seeing agave spirits from everywhere but if you’ve been paying attention to mezcal’s home turf, you will have noticed a remarkable fluorescence of a new mezcal category, destilados de agave or agave
The CRM puts a stake in the ground on “legitimate” mezcal
[et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.19.17"]The CRM has a new ad campaign that very clearly spells out that if a bottle does not have the hologram on it, it's not mezcal. Needless to say, this has riled some folks
Why is there a QR Code on my bottle of mezcal?
[et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.19.17"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.19.17"]It’s been almost a year and half since NOM 70 was implemented and we’re finally beginning to see one major part of the roll out on our bottles - the inclusion of a qr
Ley de Desarollo Sustentable de Maguey-Mezcal – a new proposal to protect traditional mezcal production
The below article was written by Rion Toal who has been on the ground in Oaxaca for the past several years working with the Maestros del Mezcal AC. He is also the importer of Mezcales CUISH, NETA and soon, Amormata. For
What just happened with the CRM?
As you may have noticed there was a huge explosion on social media last week about the Consejo Regulador del Mezcal (CRM) in Oaxaca. The CRM makes the rules for mezcal so this was big news: The headquarters were locked and sealed, Hipocrates Nolasco Cancino the leader of the CRM chained himself to a gate, there were wild rumors about a takeover and then, on Tuesday morning, everything seemed to go back to normal.