Maestros
Rubén López Diego
His Origins
Rubén was born in Santa Catarina Albarradas in May 1971. He is the son of Don Juan López Santiago (RIP) and Doña María Diego García. Since he was a child, he helped his father and grandfather Pedro by cutting maguey, herding donkeys to transport it to the palenque, and walking through the mountains to learn and assist with mezcal-making tasks—but also to go hunting, an activity that remains his favorite pastime to this day.
Because of this, he only completed elementary school.
During his childhood, he learned to play the clarinet and actively participated in the town’s symphonic orchestra until the age of 12.
Rubén is married to Doña Bertha Domingo García, who is also a native of Santa Catarina Albarradas. Together, they have four children: Adolfo, Selena, Emmanuel, and Yesenia, with whom they speak Zapotec, their native language, in addition to Spanish.
Rubén spent almost his entire life in Santa Catarina Albarradas. In 2005, when mezcal was not widely appreciated, he went to Los Angeles, California, in search of better opportunities. He worked in a hamburger factory but returned almost immediately, as he says he didn’t like the pressure or having someone boss him around.
Upon his return, he restored the palenque he had originally built in a rudimentary way back in 1994.
Throughout this journey, Rubén has had the unconditional support of his wife Bertha, who—besides helping him in the mezcal production process (and now recognized as a Maestra Mezcalera in Albarradas)—has taken on the responsibility of raising and educating their children, as well as involving other local women in the ancestral production of mezcal.
Rubén’s favorite mezcal is the one he distills using what he calls “Mountain Green Maguey,” which is of the Salmiana species and grows at elevations above 1,800 meters in the communities surrounding Albarradas.
Rubén is currently dedicated to inviting young people to learn the secrets and details of harvesting, roasting, fermentation, and distillation of the region’s endemic agaves—such as Sierra Negra, Jabalí, Tobalá, Tepextate, and Mountain Green Maguey—in collaboration with his sons Adolfo and Emmanuel.
Rubén’s dream, he says, is for the collaboration between his sons and extended family members to continue, so they can keep creating jobs and pride within the community, even when he is no longer around.
His son Adolfo is currently in the process of registering his own brand, called NIWAYAKA, which means “Legend” or “Ancestral” in Zapotec.
Since 2021, Rubén and César (founder of Despatriado and Puntiagudo) have been working together to craft exceptional Mezcals and Agave Spirits rooted in flavor and tradition. Through this collaboration, Rubén and his family have gone from an uncertain economy to a stable one that has allowed them to improve their living conditions.
It is an honor to know and support families and communities like that of Rubén López Diego.
