by Shaun Layton | On a recent trip to Mexico City for Tales of the Cocktail on Tour, I was among a few lucky bartenders invited by our friends at Sovereign Liquor Merchants down to the beautiful mountainous region of Oaxaca. Why? To learn everything we could about mezcal.

Sovereign imports many spirits from all over the world, including some of Mexico’s finest agave-based spirits, like Julio and Eduardo Mestre’s Los Siete Misterios. All of Siete Misterios products are 100% natural and organic. The two brothers from Mexico City have a deep appreciation for the traditional production of mezcal; they are also two of the best hosts around.

Unlike tequila, mezcal can be made from a variety of different species of agave harvested in Oaxaca, a vast and rugged region about six hours south by car from Mexico City. In North American bars, mezcal has become almost mainstream; I refer to it at times as the new Islay whisky. Bartenders love to use it in cocktails for spice and smoke notes, as a little goes a long way. These small batch mezcals aren’t cheap, especially in Canada, where they run anywhere from $50 to $150 a bottle. But it wasn’t until I visited some of these places that I actually understood why.

Visiting a clay pot distillery in Oaxaca is one of the most incredible booze experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of partaking in, not only on account if all the delicious mezcal we got to drink right off the still, but also because we were able to witness all the hard work and tradition that goes into the making of them. Picture a farm, three hours up meandering dirt roads, 3,500 feet above sea level. Up there you find a single family with a living farm that happens to produce world class spirits. No tractors or forklifts here, just a couple of mules, a horse, and some very hard-working mezcalero. Pro tip: if a home cooked meal is on the table, eat it!

These distilleries are so small that they will contract out to one or multiple brands. Production is minimal, so the brands usually will have a few distilleries throughout Oaxaca they work with, making sure consistency and work standards are on point. It takes up to ten years for one agave plant to fully mature, yet the process from the still to the bottle is pretty quick. Seeing the two distillations it takes to make it to the bottle is fascinating!

On a another trip to see a Siete Misterios distillery, we climbed the hills (by truck) to the town of San Luis Del Rio. Two hours south of Oaxaca, on the Rio Hormiga Colorada (Red Ant River), is a quaint little town of approximately 450 people. The town’s main export? Mezcal. Here, we forded a river by 4×4 to reach a copper pot distillery — quite the entrance! These types of distilleries are more efficient, though seeing one in a setting like this still looks ancient compared to more modern facilities. Everything from harvesting the Espadin to lighting the fire under the still is done by hand (or mule).

The reception we received at all these places was always warm and gracious. The Mexican people are some of the most hospitable I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and the mezcal boom they’re riding looks like it’s really helping these small towns.

Lesson learned: no longer will I ask why mezcal costs so much or why the supply is no match for the demand. I will forever appreciate all the different brands, vintages, and vareties of mezcal, and all the hard work that goes into making it!