The Women of Mezcal Champion Certified Tasting Protocols

The other day, It was great chatting with Eléctrico Mezcal’s mezcal neighbor in San Baltazar Guelavila, Dena Chagoya. Dena is the President of Las Mujeres del Mezcal, the Women of Mezcal, and Eléctrico’s own Isabel Morales Santiago is her Vice President, so San Baltazar Guelavila women are pretty influential!

Dena comes from a long line of mezcaleros but is the first woman in the family to run her palenque. Her father signed the Federal bill for the mezcal denomination, and she is determined to honor his legacy.

So, she is in charge of an official tasting protocol for mezcal. ‘Right now, nobody knows exactly how to taste mezcal. With tequila, they have their official glass, and they have their procedures,’ she told us. ‘For mezcal, there’s nothing written. So, we’re working with an institute that can certify the organoleptic quality of a mezcal.

‘When you drink mezcal, you should know exactly what part of the process was wrong. If it tastes too burnt, then you know they didn’t cut off the burnt parts of the piñas before the fermentation. If it tastes too acidic, you know they left on too much of the pancreas (the leaves). So, by getting a protocol, producers can improve their processes to get a better product.’

The first tasting session with the institute took place in Oaxaca on May 21, 2022, and a second in Michoacan on May 27, but Dena says it’s a slow process establishing anything official. ‘It’s going to take years,’ she says. ‘But we will get there.’