Sisters Rosalinda and Elizabeth Mendoza combine Yakima and Michoacán lineage to make award-winning mezcal
Recently, I was watching a police-based TV show, and two detectives were returning from Mexico, carrying heavy hangovers. The main character asked what they’d been drinking, to which one slowly said: mezcal. The main character replied, “that’s the one with the worm in it?”
I nearly screamed at my TV.
In our modern drinking age, it’s amazing that people still misunderstand delicious, varied, wonderful mezcal. Even tequila lovers. That’s funny, as tequila is a specific mezcal – the designation mezcal covers any spirit distilled in Mexico from the agave plant (tequila uses only Blue Weber agave). There are more than 30 agaves used for making mezcales, delivering a vast range of flavors and brands. And recently, more are making their way stateside, including ones from Mocel, a company started in Yakima, Washington, by sisters Rosalinda and Elizabeth Mendoza. Their top shelf mezcales are winning big awards.
As Rosalinda told us, the Mocel story in many ways dates back to World War II. Because most men from the United States were fighting Nazis in Europe, the U.S. and Mexico started the Bracero Program to bring Mexican workers stateside for agricultural and railroad work. They tried to match up agricultural workers with areas that corresponded in terrain to where they were from. For eastern Washington, this meant the Michoacán region. This Michoacán/Washington connection led to Rosalinda and Elizabeth’s parents emigrating to Yakima.
The sisters spent a lot of time in both areas, and as Rosalinda tells us, “these two places shaped who we are.” Surrounded by agriculturally centric landscapes, she adds that the two “witnessed firsthand the work ethic required to work the land and gained a deep appreciation for what it takes to cultivate and create real food and drinks.”
When in Mexico, they also learned about locally made mezcales and the 400-year-old tradition behind them. The combination of work ethic, devotion to the land, and tradition became the bedrock when deciding to start their own mezcal company, after realizing the lack of mezcal options in the United States. This is especially true for Michoacán mezcales – less than 2% of mezcales available come from that Mexican state.
From the beginning, the sisters followed traditional methods and used local agave. For making small-batch mezcales, it was the perfect choice. But not an easy one. Every bottle of Mocel is carefully crafted “from 100% agave harvested by hand,” Rosalinda says, “roasted in underground earthen ovens, fermented in wooden vats using wild fermentation and distilled in traditional Michoacan wooden stills.”
It’s a painstaking process, but one leading to delectable results. Take that wooden still – something I’ve never seen stateside. In it, Rosalinda tells us, “the mezcal distills slower so it preserves more delicate aromatics such as herbal and floral. Plus, you get pine tasting notes.”
The whole process is difficult, but the results are worth it, even if it means Mocel mezcales are limited edition by their very nature. Because of that traditional process and the amount of agave used, they end up with small batches, 200 to 600 bottles. No two batches of Mocel mezcal are the same, either. Each batch is “a snapshot of the place and time of when the spirit was distilled,” Rosalinda says, and of “the character of where the agave grows, shaped by climate, topography and soil, all of which influence the flavor of the mezcal.”
That specific character flows through their mezcales, from the scent wafting dreamily off the glass to the complex flavors unveiled when drinking it. As you sip you become more connected to the land where the mezcal was made, the tradition it follows, and the people that made it. Mocel currently has two mezcal releases a year, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. Currently, they’re expanding distribution, but the best way to try their mezcales is ordering direct through their website.
If you haven’t had mezcal before, or only more mass-market brands, you’re in for a treat. Think of Mocel mezcales like you would a high-end Cognac or Scotch, a drink to savor slowly, reveling in roasted agave, spice, earth, flowers and more flavors. They are truly as unique as the two lands influencing Rosalinda and Elizabeth. The world is taking notice, too, as Mocel mezcales have already garnered many awards, including 2025 Gold Medals at both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) and the Agavos Awards, and receiving top recognition at SFWSC each of their three years in existence.
Tasting Mocel Mezcal
Mocel currently offers two distinctive mezcales. Each comes in handmade ceramic bottles nearly as beautiful as the mezcales themselves, minimalist curving designs highlighting traditional Michoacán patterns. As Rosalinda says, their “goal was to create a vessel rooted in our Michoacán heritage that you will be proud to share with your loved ones.”
And these mezcales do make great gifts! Like a grand cru wine, they also pair wonderfully with food – we’ve some ideas from Rosalinda below. Both are joven mezcales, which means they’re pure and unaged, going directly from distilling to bottling.
Mocel Mezcal Cupreata
289 bottles released, $199.99
This memorable mezcal is crafted only from Michoacán’s distinctive Cupreata agave, which takes 8 years to mature. The nose draws you in with intriguing herby earthy notes, which are mirrored in the flavor where they combine with lush reverberations of tree fruits, woodsiness and a delicate swirl of smoke. The finish is clean, but that earthiness and smoke linger like a favorite memory. Rosalinda suggests pairing this with serious meats, barbequed ribs, barbacoa or ribeye steak, but I also feel it goes well with mushroom truffle risotto.
Mocel Mezcal Ensamble
582 bottles released, $235.99
As the name suggests, this mezcal is a heroic assembly of three regional agaves: Cupreata, Inaequidens and Espadincillo, maturing between 8 and 25 years. That combo delivers a bountiful bouquet of floral scents surfacing. The taste is layered: vegetal hints, rich floral flavors (I even caught a bit of jasmine), and a delicate smoke whisper, all echoing in the finish. It’s ideal before dinner with a mild cheese (fresh cotija, goat or gouda are Rosalinda’s picks) or after, as the floral nature begs to pair with crème brulee, cream puffs or even chocolate mousse.surfacing. The taste is layered: vegetal hints, rich floral flavors (I even caught a bit of jasmine), and a delicate smoke whisper, all echoing in the finish. It’s ideal before dinner with a mild cheese (fresh cotija, goat, or gouda are Rosalinda’s picks) or after, as the floral nature begs to pair with crème brulee, cream puffs, or even chocolate mousse.
