Mexico Is Having A Fight Over The Word ‘Mezcal’

*It’s the same drink, produced a few miles from the official government cut-off line, but it can’t be called Mezcal. It’s not about taste and it’s not about geography, it’s about a name, and Mexico owns it (did you know that Mexico owns the word Tequila?). VL

By Jorge Valencia, Fronteras (4 minute read)

Mexico is proposing a small change to the rules governing mezcal — not over how it’s made or who drinks it, but simply over the word itself. That might sound insignificant, but a small tweak could have a big impact on the types of mezcals people drink in Arizona and elsewhere.

The Mexican government owns the word mezcal, the same way it owns the word tequila, according to the Mezcal Regulatory Council. And a new proposal would force producers outside of the area of origin to call their product aguardiente de agave, or agave firewater.

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The government says this is a way of thwarting counterfeiters. Small producers say corporations are influencing the government to create these new restrictions and keep out small producers — a claim corporations deny. READ MORE