Rey Campero Espadin Mezcal

Rey Campero Espadín is made by Rómulo Sánchez Parada in Candeleria Yegloe south of Oaxaca. This tiny village of 150 people boasts two great Mezcal brands, Rey Campero and Vago, many more are made in the region so population definitely does not correlate to the number, variety or quality of Mezcal.

Rómulo learned to make Mezcal from his father and grandfather but the family history in the business goes back to his great grandmother, Clara Manzano Rios who build the family’s palenque in 1870 and started distilling with her husband Nicolas Sanchez. It was the first palenque built in Candelaria Yegolé. Flash forward more than a century, Rómulo was primed to start distilling but the economy was so bad in Oaxaca that he only got this brand started in 2012.

Now that there is a wider appreciation for Mezcal we can enjoy the fruits of Rómulo’s labor. Rey Campero is imported to the U.S. by Mezcal savant William Scanlan who runs the awesomely named Heavy Metl Imports. He selected this Espadín for the reasons we love it, because it is a full expression of the land where the agave are grown and of Rómulo’s sensibility.