Mal Bien

Mal Bien was founded by Ben Scott and Anthony Silas, two Americans who came to mezcal by way of Scotch whisky, a category where independent bottlers often release the most compelling spirits without distilling anything themselves. They set out to bring that same model to agave, and since 2016 the team has travelled deep into rural Mexico, building relationships with traditional producers whose mezcal is now bottled and exported under the Mal Bien name.

Mal Bien does not make mezcal; its purpose is to showcase the people who do. Each release is credited to a named maestro mezcalero and village of origin, and although batches change from year to year, once a relationship is formed Mal Bien stays committed to the same families and the work they produce.
In the Miahuatlán district of Oaxaca, Felipe Cortés and his son Ageo (the third and fourth generations of their family to distil) work in an area known for its wealth of karwinskii agaves, roasting in earthen ovens, crushing by tahona, fermenting in cypress vats and distilling twice in copper. In Yogana, Félix Ramírez farms agave between rows of corn, squash and beans, and Mal Bien was the first brand to release his mezcal commercially. In the hills above Chilapa de Álvarez, Guerrero, the Gutiérrez family tends a nursery of more than 50,000 papalote seedlings to safeguard the quality of their maguey.

Today, the range moves from cultivated Espadín through wild and semi-wild agaves including Madrecuixe, Bicuixe, Tepextate, Mexicano Verde and Coyote. The project aims to improve life in the producing communities by shortening the supply chain between producer and drinker and by supporting non-profits.