Soto Mares is a Maestro Catador (Master Sommelier), Master Distiller and the former director of La Academia Mexicana del Tequila for California. He’s crafted whiskey, tequila and rum. The road to becoming one of the top tequila makers in North America was long, with many twists.

Soto Mares’ grandfather began the family business out of necessity. Originally a Freemason and bureaucrat working for the Mexican government in Mexico, he fled with his family to the U.S. in the mid 1920s during the Cristero War and found himself struggling to support a wife and five children in California. He decided to try his hand at distilling the local blue agave – not so good for making tequila – “but good for making hooch,” Soto Mares said.

After being visited by the Revenuers and being driven out of L.A. because he was encroaching on another bootlegger’s turf, he moved back to Mexico, but not before having an associate distribute his bootleg tequila. The Charles Kenneth Speakeasy was one of his clients.

“I am going back to the speakeasy to launch of The Bad Stuff in my adopted home,” Soto Mares said.

Soto Mares learned the skill of master tequila making from his uncle, who had learned from his father.

But first, he had to learn to drink the stuff.

“I was 16 years old. The first thing I did was shoot the stuff like they did on TV. With a slap to the head my uncle admonished me,” Soto Mares admitted.

It was years later that Soto Mares learned the nuance of the agave-based spirit. In 1994, his uncle asked him: “Felipe, are you ready?”

“For what?”

“To learn to make tequila?”

Soto Mares quit his job in San Diego and packed his things. He spent six months at the small hacienda outside of Guadalajara learning from his uncle. His first batch was bad. His uncle told him so.

“He spit it out,” Soto Mares said.

Soto Mares wandered back into the field to find the right agave to harvest and had an epiphany.

“I was so nervous sweat got in my eye,” he said.

He remembered what his uncle told him about harvesting the agave at just the right time.

“Look for the tears of the agave.”

He put his finger to the tear and tasted it. Sweet. It’s this sweetness that gives the agave the ability to caramelize, the unique quality in The Bad Stuff.

Soto Mares’ second batch passed his uncle’s taste test. He spent the next 20 years perfecting his formula and is proud to finally release it to the public, with his business partners George Molsbarger, David Warshawsky, and Darren Enenstein.

Today, when Soto Mares looks at the label of his bottle of tequila, he sees four spirits.

“Tequila, Grandfather Roberto's spirit, Uncle Roberto's spirit and mine: a gift from us to those who would embrace our heritage,” he said.

The Bad Stuff competed in the Made in Mexico Competition against 67 tequila brands currently on the market. It received in the Extra Añejo category a Gold and Best of Class, it also received Best of Show. The Bad Stuff is an Extra Añejo that is aged at least three years in new medium-charred French Oak barrels and is made from fully matured Tequilana weber blue agave.

In Nightclub & Bar magazine, Robert Plotkin said, “This exquisite, museum-grade tequila has a generous bouquet laced with the bakery fresh aromas of vanilla, cinnamon and allspice. The palate is frontloaded with spice, but then slowly gives way to a thoroughly satisfying warm, peppery glow. The body is buttery and the finish sublime.

The Bad Stuff is made in the colonial town of Arandas, Jalisco. It is considered the Highlands, at an elevation of 5,873 feet, where some of the finest tequilas are made. The water source for the tequila is a large artesian well.

Soto Mares will unveil The Bad Stuff, share stories of his family’s tequila-making tradition, and explain how the tequila got its name, Oct. 10, from 7-8:30 p.m. at The Charles Kenneth Speakeasy, a secret downstairs venue, at The Land & Water Company Restaurant, 2978 Carlsbad Blvd, Suite 110, Carlsbad.

In addition to The Charles Kenneth Speakeasy, The Bad Stuff is available at Mille Fleurs restaurant in Rancho Santa Fe, Masters Kitchen and Cocktail in Oceanside, Mission Bar and Grille, Mister A’s, The Mission Bay Yacht Club, Texas Liquor, Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, and Old Town Liquor.