Description
This single estate Mezcal brand was established in 2011 and partnered with families who have been producing traditional mezcal for generations. Honouring traditions their mezcal is distilled in small batches using 350l stills and produced using artisan methods.
The brand owner, Melanie Symonds, first fell in love with mezcal on holiday in Mexico and decided to open the UKs first Mezcaleria in 2010. Quickly realising that there weren’t many affordable mezcals, which were traditionally made, in the UK that could be used as their house pour, she started her own brands working together with the Mendez family. The Mendez family, 3rd generation mezcaleros, were a perfect match as they were not wishing to export their product themselves and were looking for a partner who could, and so Melanie called the brand Quiquiriqui, after the Mezcaleria she’d previously opened.
The family run a replanting nursery for their agave fields in Matatlan but also purchase agaves from long standing farmers all over Oaxaca. They also work with students on seed growing programmes and sustainability initiatives within the local communities.
What’s more is they have been working for many years to organise a collective of producers in their village to stop the discarding of left over liquid from distillation (vinasas) and have recently become the only palenque in the area to have their own organic disposal facility! They also work with a collective to only use dead or diseased wood for the production, as deforestation is a big problem in Oaxaca and certain wood types are dangerously over harvested.
With complete respect for the production and quality of the Mendez family recipes, QQRQ never mixes batches or blends mezcal from different producers.
