Vago

Mezcal Vago was born from the meeting between co-founder Judah Kuper and a family of mezcaleros in Oaxaca; the project was developed to highlight the work of local mezcaleros and to market small, identifiable lots. The initial range was exported starting in the 2010s; historically the brand was produced by Aquilino García (later succeeded by his sons after his death in 2020) and then expanded to include other maestros such as Tío Rey, Emigdio Jarquín and Joel Barriga. Bottles carry information about the producer, the agave and the lot, and the involved maestros are also stakeholders in the project according to consulted sources.

Authenticity, transparency toward the consumer and sustainability. Vago aims to link each bottle to the individual maestro mezcalero who produced it, supports agave repopulation practices and seeks to reduce environmental impact (labels made from recycled agave fibre, "bat friendly" initiatives and planting projects).

Sierra Sur, state of Oaxaca (production locations cited: Candelaria Yegolé, Gulerá Sola de Vega, El Nanche - Miahuatlán, San Isidro Tapanala).

Small-batch production using traditional methods: cooking the piñas in earthen pit ovens, crushing with a tahona (or ancestral techniques such as manual maceration in canoas), fermenting in wooden vats with local water and generally double distilling in copper pot stills. Some maestros produce ancestral lots by distilling in ollas de barro (clay vessels).

Double distillation in copper pot stills (typically refrescadera/refrescadora for some maestros); ancestral expressions use distillation in ollas de barro.

Joven (unaged) for most expressions.