It’s kind of funny that as a publication focused on mezcal, our biggest story was our piece about the class action lawsuit filed against Diageo. Well, the irony continues and that Diageo story has now been eclipsed by another tequila story--the class action lawsuit filed against Costco and its Kirkland Signature Tequila brand. The fact that the story broke on a Friday at 4pm Pacific time, and Halloween Friday at that, made no difference, it spread like fire across social media, and spiked our traffic numbers enormously. Serious hats off to Felisa Rogers and her incredible coverage of the charges of adulteration since January of this year.

People are attached to Costco and specifically to the in house Kirkland private label products. The line has graced many a top 10 list of value 100% agave tequilas since it came onto the market. And a bargain it is at $27 for 1.75 liters of tequila blanco and $16-24 for a liter bottle of reposado and añejo. Since Costco does not release sales information for it’s private label products, we have no idea what the volume is but we can assume it’s pretty high. That’s crazy cheap price for tequila and raises all sorts of questions of just how that is possible, which of course is the point of this latest lawsuit.

As time goes on, as these class action lawsuits continue to be filed against big name brands in tequila, there is that little voice in my head asking, is tequila too big to fail? There are billions and billions of dollars involved in the tequila industry that involve not just the juice itself but also the jobs and industries built up around it. Is it really conceivable that the alleged adulteration really so widespread? Could regulators really be turning a blind eye or worse, helping with the deception? Clearly, there is something questionable going on, but it is the breadth of these lawsuits that just make it so unreal - it truly boggles the mind. The truth is, I don’t think anyone will let tequila fail, there is just too much money involved, but how it is kept from failing is the ultimate question.

At this point, everything is conjecture and hopefully we the consumers have some say in how tequila course corrects (can we have some serious and honest conversations about how diffusers ruined tequila?) So much work, time and money has been invested into changing people’s perceptions and ideas of agave spirits as being so much more than shots at parties.

Speaking of changing perceptions, Tess Rose Lampert interviews Luis Loya of Lamata Spirits and his crusade to champion traditional agave spirits. We’ve also got a few other pieces by Tess including a new perfect pairing and a wrap up of the first ever Sotol Week in New York, and new tasting notes for the Salvadores Destilado con Cempasúchil. Finally, if you are in the Bay Area, check out two great events happening Thursday night to kick off Mexico in a Bottle this weekend. Details below in Mezcal Events.

Saludos,

Susan and the Mezcalistas Team

MEZCAL NEWS

MEZCAL EVENTS

• November 13th, ½ Marrito Tasting, Loló San Francisco

• November 13th, Agave: Spirit of a Nation, Nido’s Backyard Oakland

• November 15th, What’s in your Mouth, Oakland

• November 16th, Mexico in a Bottle, San Francisco

• December 6th, Oh Hey Agave, Kansas City

SHOP MEZCALISTAS

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