There is a debate going around in the mezcal community (yes, there is a community for pretty much everything – are you a member of the A-Rod’s Homeopathic Treatments Club?) about what the definition is of Traditional Mezcal.  I think I know where this started, and I am certain it will not end here, but I wanted to throw my hat in the ring on this debate.

For the most part, I think this whole debate is a problem of nomenclature.  The nomenclature part is simple:  as soon as you say one thing is “traditional”, that means everything else is not.  The problem is that many news outlets, websites, and blogs picked up a recent piece of literature on traditional mezcal, and they are publishing it as gospel.  I think there is more to the story.  Let’s see if we can sort it out. (more…)