OUR HISTORY
This is the history of the Méndez family in Matatlán, Oaxaca;
a mezcal story through many years.
It all began with a mezcal among friends.
1750
1750 · Our family settled down in Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca.
1795 · Don José Guadalupe Leocadio Méndez crafted mezcal for his own consumption and selling to some friends, since the production was very small.
1835
1835 · Don Juan Méndez Arrazola introduce the copper still in Santiago Matatlán, whom brought it from Jalisco, in order to efficientize the Mezcal production.
1920 · Don Alberto Méndez Luria founded “La Mera Mata”, a corner store of Mezcal, where he sold the Mezcal crafted by his family.
1951
1951 · Don Pedro Méndez Luria and his wife, Doña Julieta Torres Sanromán, decided to bottle their Mezcal and named it "EL CORTIJO", becoming the first Mezcal brand in Oaxaca.
1953 · EL CORTIJO started to craft Mezcal with worm, and the label used featured the iconic dancer "Danzante de la Pluma.
1962 · El Cortijo started to open market in the state of Oaxaca.
1967
1967 · Pedro Méndez Torres started to sell and dominate the regional market, aside from Oaxaca, selling in Puebla, Guerrero and Chiapas.
1972 · The engineer Gustavo Méndez Torres took over the business.
1980 ·EL CORTIJO became the first exporting mezcal brand owned by a family in Oaxaca, and the first country that received our Mezcal was France.
1995
1995 · The company suffered the famous “error of December 1994”, laying off the majority of their employees and cutting expenses and investments.
1996 ·Gustavo Méndez Torres y Francisco Torres Sanromán created their Aged Mezcal with Worm.
2001 ·EL CORTIJO celebrated its 50th anniversary.
2008 ·Juan Carlos Méndez Zamora created the SPECIAL EDITION, integrated by mezcales crafted with maguey espadín capón selected from our platantions, and labeled with designs from various visual artists from Oaxaca, such as Amador Montes, Maximino Javier and Eduardo Sarmiento.
2011
2011 · Juan Carlos and Raúl Méndez Zamora created the MEZCAL MASTERS EDITION, which is a co-edition with Masters that specialize in different wild agaves from their native regions, and so keeping the historic flavor.
2012 · EL CORTIJO LA MEZCALERÍA is founded. It's a space for promoting the Mezcal culture, and where Mezcales from different parts of Oaxaca, as well as some other states of México, are tasted..
2016 · The space “CASA CORTIJO” opened its doors, as a place where people can enjoy the Mezcal experience, having guided tours through the maguey plantations, agave paths, traditional distilleries (palenques), and all about Mezcal.