Ilegal Mezcal www.ilegalmezcal.com lives up to its name, by paying respect to the days when it’s owners; Stephen Myers and John Rexer would smuggle bottles of Mezcal from Mexico into Guatemala. Ilegal was literally illegal until 2009 when the business was established in America and continues to be highly recognized  by reputable people in the industry as one of the best Mezcal’s on the market because of it’s incredibly smooth finish. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mezcal, it’s quite similar to Tequila, except it tastes a lot smokier. Fast forward to a beautiful Tuesday evening at Ward III, where I found myself having cocktails with Stephen Myers; a quick witted Australian gentleman with an interesting sense of humor. Before I even arrived, I knew in my gut that his story would be unique, but had no clue that I would be taken on such an exciting voyage…

Moxie Maria: Why Mezcal?

Stephen Myers:  Mezcal picked me. The year was 2005 and I was living in a small town called Antigua in Guatemala, studying Spanish to return to Costa Rica to work. I was coordinating volunteer programs and focusing on rural infrastructure for a non-profit organization. I was in the process of returning to Costa Rica and the non-profit world after a couple of years in Luxembourg running a pub, playing a bit of rugby and traveling around. While I was in Antigua, Guatemala, someone cloned my bank card and cleaned my account!

Moxie Maria: Someone took you to the cleaners in Guatemala?

Continue reading here….