The Tiger - Papalote (Lazaro) LZRH323

Lázaro Nava, along with his brothers, harvested the first mature magueyes left by their father after he passed away in 2016. By 2023’s dry season, Lázaro was still using part of this inheritance. He expressed gratitude to the crosses for the start of the season, and with Beni and Yair, went to the field for the maguey hunt, magueyes that their father had still been propagating by scattering the seeds on the hill. Like their parents, Lázaro brings the maguey to work in partnership, a medias, with the Patricio García family. This year, before her passing, Tía Victoria took the time to teach Lázaro and Chela, his wife, about the mezcal composition technique that she regularly practiced. The batch from the third roasting was still adjusted by her.

Lázaro and his family have dedicated significant efforts to reforesting the papalotes in the patches of their property; their agaves will thrive for the future just as they continue to harvest them in memory of their father.

The Tiger

Damian and Raquel, the founders of El Tigre, officially started the project in 2011, but the roots date back to the early 2000s, when Damian's tío Chimino, an accomplished magueyero (agave farmer) first introduced him to the Patricio García family, and Damian, who had grown up in Mexico City and Detroit, began developing a greater interest in the culture of his family’s ancestral home in Atempa-Xulchuchio, Guerrero.

Since then, the couple have hosted mezcal tastings in their home in Mexico City as way of spreading Atempa’s culture of mezcal, while using the proceeds to help support and preserve the web of agricultural and artisan communities that all play important parts in Atempa’s traditional social, religious and economic systems.

More info on mezcalmalbien.com