Mezcal is the best kept secret of Mexico and the most ancient distilled spirit of America.

Unlike its sibling tequila, mezcal can derive from over thirty varietals of agave, most of them grow in the wild in different regions of the land.

Colloquially, mezcal means any spirit distilled from the agave plant. The word mezcal comes from the Nahuatl word mexcalli, which means cooked agave and is derived from the Nahuatl words metl (agave) and ixcalli (cooked).

People have been making mezcal in Mexico since at least the Spanish conquest, potentially earlier.

In most of Mexico’s 31 states, someone is making a spirit from the agave plant and calling it mezcal. But mezcal can only legally labeled as mezcal in ten states. Since 1997, Mexico’s Denomination of origin (DO or DOM) has defined which regions can legally produce and sell a product labeled as mezcal, which also must certified by a mezcal regulatory organization.

For now, mezcal can be certified in Oaxaca, Michoacan, Puebla, Guerrero, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi, Durango, and Sinaloa.

Oaxaca produces around 80% of the mezcal available on the international market.

EACH HAS THEIR OWN DISCTINCT EXPRESIONS. PROCESSES, METHODS AND VARIETALS ARE DIVERSE. IN MEZCAL ORIGIN IS EVERYTHING.