Francisco Cortés is a maestro mezcalero living in his hometown in Santiago Matatlán. For most of his life, Francisco Cortés worked closely on the palenques with his father Don José. While in his 30's, Francisco helped Don José restore the palenque he owned as a young man. Francisco is now the owner and caretaker of his father’s original palenque, the site of numerous Cortés family stories and folklore. With four decades of experience making mezcal, Francisco earned his own title as a maestro mezcalero in the Cortés family.
