Antonio Sonido

Don Antonio first started to work with maguey and mezcal in his mid-20s, using the wild papalote growing on his family’s land as an “in” with an experienced mezcalero who lived nearby. Don Antonio continued to hone his craft using other neighbor’s fabricas in exchange for a cut of the finished product until 2011, when he and his son Lorenzo built the family’s first fabrica.

In addition to papalote, the Sonido family also grows some espadín, which is still considered something of a rarity in the region, having only arrived in the late 2000s.

Don Antonio is credited among his peers as the originator of borrego mezcal: a “pechuga” that uses lamb along with the local blend of mole botanicals.

Photo and maestro description courtesy of our friends at Mal Bien.