REGION: Oaxaca

Pal’alma is the export brand for Almamezcalera, the bottling label from Mexico City’s notorious “Indiana Jones of Agave”, Erick Rodriguez. Equal parts historian and adventurer, Erick travels to remote production sites all over Mexico bottling truly thrilling, uncertified agave distillates.

Co-founded by third-generation distiller Jose Luis Carrera and Mezcal Vago’s Judah Kuper, Paranubes helps to shed light on the tradition of regional Oaxacan rum, or aguardiente de caña, which has been quietly simmering in the shadows of Oaxaca since the 1500s.

Helmed by siblings and fifth generation mezcal producers Graciela & Edgar Ángeles Carreño, Real Minero are thought leaders in their field. While conducting botanical and historic research into agave, the family produces some of the most traditional, laborious, and delicious spirits in the world.

Helmed by Romulo Sanchez Parada, Rey Campero, meaning “King of the Countryside,” is a family collective in Candelaria Yegolé, Oaxaca. The family works some of the most diverse and productive agave nurseries in Oaxaca and is known for creative experimentation in traditional mezcal production.

Edgar González Ramírez and cousin Elisandro González Molina created Tosba in part to bring jobs back to San Cristobal Lachirioag, their village in the Villa Alta region of Oaxaca. Combining traditional techniques with sustainable modern ingenuity, Mezcal Tosba is as inspiring as it is delicious.