Del Maguey celebrated its 30th anniversary at a ceremony in Oaxaca. Now, 30 years is a ripe old age for an international mezcal brand and since its founding by California-based artist Ron Cooper and drinks industry polyglot Steve Olson, Del Maguey has played the role of Polaris as the category around it has morphed into something almost unrecognisable.
“It’s unbelievably gratifying,” Steve Olson tells Drinks International from within the courtyard of a former Oaxacan convent.
“It’s a testament to how hard we’ve worked but, at the same time, it’s really scary because we’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve seen expansion, we’ve seen industrialisation, and we’ve seen corporate greed, and all of those things are at the very least a danger, if not rampantly active here.
“But I refuse to be negative, because I come from the hospitality industry and to me, you know how they always ask if the glass is half full or half empty? To me, my glass is full because if it’s not, I’m not doing my job.
“I refuse to accept negativity too. You want to talk about sustainability? Well, our priority is to take care of the people, but the people need somewhere to live so we need to take care of the earth. That’s sustainability, and that’s a commitment… I am going to believe that’s real, and I’m going to believe that we did choose the right partners [in Pernod Ricard], and the reason I’m still hanging around is because I’m making sure that the legacy lives on. I’m not here because I need it, but because I have a commitment to the families.”
It was in 2017 that Pernod Ricard acquired a majority stake in Del Maguey, facilitating the brand to expand further than it ever had done before, but Olson has always maintained that the brand cannot afford to lose sight of its roots.
The celebrations in Oaxaca were attended by many of the brand’s families of producers who were honoured on stage by Olson and Michael Merolli, chief executive of Pernod Ricard’s House of Tequila, who echoed Olson’s commitment to the people behind the brand.
Bittersweet milestone
But while celebratory, the milestone is bittersweet as it marks the end of an era for Olson as a day-to-day part of the brand he has nurtured for three decades.
“I’m not in the operations at all anymore,” says Olson. “I turned it completely over to [the House of Tequila team]. I’m doing my last quality control tasting tomorrow.
“Honestly, I think they have the capacity to take care of [the families] even more. But, I needed to feel it and see it and believe it. Five years later, the whole team is different, but now I get to say everything is based on family liquid, quality and tradition. That was the main thing, they’re not allowed to make changes that would affect the traditional nature of this product.
“Can they give the love to the families the way we do? Probably not, because it’s a 30-year love affair. They are our families. They’re the family I chose. But I just can’t believe [the House of Tequila team] could be blowing smoke up my ass. My glass is full.”
The future of Del Maguey may be in good hands but the wider threats to mezcal can’t be ignored. However, again Olson chooses optimism.
“[Tariffs] could decimate us in the US, but it could be an opportunity to just grow the rest of the world. If [Trump] does what he says he’s going to do to Mexico, nobody else has done it, and Mexico has free trade with almost all of Europe. We ship direct to Europe, so what an opportunity to just blow up in Europe and the rest of the world.
“I see the bigger problem is this prohibitionary movement that the whole world is going through. But we’ll rebound from that too. People will continue to worry about their health, but I don’t think it’s going to continue to destroy our categories. It’s cyclical. I also think brands like Del Maguey are less affected by things like that because of our organic growth and our following. During Covid, everybody got destroyed but we had worked 25 years to build this community, this family. Our community supported us then and that’s how we’ll get through it.”
