08/18/2026
New Mal Bien Exports releases PLUS Mal Bien x Tahona private batch mezcal 🌵 🚨
Mal Bien is a collection of agave spirits from small producers across Mexico, sourced by a team of spirits enthusiasts who’ve spent years traveling the country in search of the authentic and the interesting. Every bottle is tied to a specific mezcalero, village, and tradition — no blending across producers, no house style imposed on the process.
⭐ Zacatoro — Tomás & Emiliano Gutiérrez (Chilapa de Álvarez, Guerrero) — Tahona Mercado × Mal Bien private batch
Third and fourth generation mezcaleros working wild agave grown on the family’s own land. Only 6 cases made it to the US — all purchased by Tahona Mercado. Look for chocolate and chile notes throughout.
🌾 Papalote — Javier Barranca (Ahuacuotzintla, Guerrero)
A fifth-generation mezcalero working alongside his grandfather Don Ciro for years before taking over the family fabrica. Made from wild papalote agave, double-distilled in copper.
🌾 Papalote — Refugio Calzada (Tetitlán de la Lima, Guerrero)
Don Cuco spent decades as president of a local mezcalero and agave-farmer association, and has led reforestation efforts in the region. His papalote is fermented in open-air wooden tinas and distilled twice in copper.
🌾 Espadín — Lucio Morales López (San Dionisio Ocotepec, Oaxaca)
The house’s everyday sipper — it’s the “gateway mezcal” Mal Bien hands to friends new to the category. Roasted meat and ground corn on the nose, leather and pine tar underneath.
🌾 Alto — Isidro Rodríguez Montoya (Río de Parras, Michoacán)
A first-generation mezcalero who’s worked exclusively with maguey alto for years. Known for a clean, mineral character with a touch of fruit — a departure from the funkier, lactic profile common to the region.
🌾 Verde — Victor & Emanuel Ramos (Mengoli de Morelos, Oaxaca)
Third and fourth generation mezcaleros from the Miahuatlán district, an area known for its range of A. karwinskii varietals. Verde is one of their most requested expressions.
