Top 10 Mezcal Brands in Mexico 2026

Founded by American artist Ron Cooper in 1995 and the brand most credited with creating the premium mezcal market in the United States, Del Maguey's village series — each bottle sourced from a single Oaxacan Zapotec community — established the concept of terroir mezcal and the importance of preserving production diversity. The San Luis del Río expression, made at 10,000 feet altitude with wild maguey harvested by a single family, is the most studied mezcal by spirits professionals globally.

The most important accessible-price mezcal brand in the US market, Alipús produces village-specific expressions from Santa Ana, San Andres, and San Baltazar at price points that make the complexity of single-village mezcal available to consumers beyond the premium market. The brand's educational role in creating mezcal category consumers has been more significant than that of any other producer.

A Oaxacan ensemble mezcal made from 90% espadin and 10% barril agave in Ejutla de Crespo that produces the most approachable and food-friendly mezcal on the market — the tropical fruit and floral notes balanced against a gentle smoke making it the most effective bridge between tequila and artisanal mezcal for new drinkers. Banhez is consistently the best-selling mezcal in the casual fine dining segment.

The mezcal most responsible for introducing the spirit to mass-market consumers through on-trend packaging, accessible flavors, and a marketing approach that connected mezcal to Mexican-American youth culture. Though not artisanal in production scale, El Silencio's role in building category awareness for the hundreds of traditional producers who followed it into the US market is culturally significant.

Produced by Los Danzantes distillery in San Baltazar Guelache from multiple agave varieties including the rare espadin, cuishe, tobalá, and tobaziche harvested from different altitudes, Koch El Mezcal is the most geographically diverse portfolio from a single Oaxacan producer. The single-agave-variety releases demonstrate how one producer's terroir expresses differently depending entirely on agave species.

A guerrilla-produced Guerrero mezcal made from wild-harvested papalometl agave in copper alembic stills by a single family in Chilpancingo, Putaparió has become the most sought-after small-production mezcal in Mexico City's mezcalerías for its combination of aggressive smoke, mineral complexity, and genuine wildness of character. The name itself — an unrepeatable Spanish compound expletive — signals its rejection of the premium mezcal category's increasingly corporate sensibility.

A family-produced Oaxacan mezcal from Santa Catarina Minas made entirely in traditional clay pot stills using wild-harvested agave including the extremely rare largo and pechuga varieties, Real Minero is the mezcal most respected by mezcal scholars for preserving the most ancient production methodology still in commercial production. The clay pot distillation creates a mineral, almost saline character that no other distillation material produces.

El Jolgorio's village-specific single-producer series, Nuestra Soledad releases mezcals sourced from individual maestros in different Oaxacan villages using the same espadin agave but showing dramatically different flavor profiles depending on the producer's technique, water source, and wild yeast population. The San Luis Amatlán and Ejutla expressions are particularly celebrated for demonstrating how identical agave variety tastes completely different across 50 kilometres of Oaxacan geography.

A collaboration between master distiller Iván Saldaña and Bacardi-owned House of Cuervo, Montelobos sits at the quality end of the non-artisanal mezcal market with a genuine botanical and mineral complexity approaching estate artisanal producers at a mass-distribution price point. Saldaña's own agave research — he wrote the definitive academic survey of Mexican agave species — gives Montelobos an intellectual credibility that most commercial mezcals lack.

Founded by American artist Ron Cooper in 1995 and the brand most credited with creating the premium mezcal market in the United States, Del Maguey's village series — each bottle sourced from a single Oaxacan Zapotec community — established the concept of terroir mezcal and the importance of preserving production diversity. The San Luis del Río expression, made at 10,000 feet altitude with wild maguey harvested by a single family, is the most studied mezcal by spirits professionals globally.

The most important accessible-price mezcal brand in the US market, Alipús produces village-specific expressions from Santa Ana, San Andres, and San Baltazar at price points that make the complexity of single-village mezcal available to consumers beyond the premium market. The brand's educational role in creating mezcal category consumers has been more significant than that of any other producer.

A Oaxacan ensemble mezcal made from 90% espadin and 10% barril agave in Ejutla de Crespo that produces the most approachable and food-friendly mezcal on the market — the tropical fruit and floral notes balanced against a gentle smoke making it the most effective bridge between tequila and artisanal mezcal for new drinkers. Banhez is consistently the best-selling mezcal in the casual fine dining segment.

The mezcal most responsible for introducing the spirit to mass-market consumers through on-trend packaging, accessible flavors, and a marketing approach that connected mezcal to Mexican-American youth culture. Though not artisanal in production scale, El Silencio's role in building category awareness for the hundreds of traditional producers who followed it into the US market is culturally significant.

Produced by Los Danzantes distillery in San Baltazar Guelache from multiple agave varieties including the rare espadin, cuishe, tobalá, and tobaziche harvested from different altitudes, Koch El Mezcal is the most geographically diverse portfolio from a single Oaxacan producer. The single-agave-variety releases demonstrate how one producer's terroir expresses differently depending entirely on agave species.

A guerrilla-produced Guerrero mezcal made from wild-harvested papalometl agave in copper alembic stills by a single family in Chilpancingo, Putaparió has become the most sought-after small-production mezcal in Mexico City's mezcalerías for its combination of aggressive smoke, mineral complexity, and genuine wildness of character. The name itself — an unrepeatable Spanish compound expletive — signals its rejection of the premium mezcal category's increasingly corporate sensibility.

A family-produced Oaxacan mezcal from Santa Catarina Minas made entirely in traditional clay pot stills using wild-harvested agave including the extremely rare largo and pechuga varieties, Real Minero is the mezcal most respected by mezcal scholars for preserving the most ancient production methodology still in commercial production. The clay pot distillation creates a mineral, almost saline character that no other distillation material produces.

El Jolgorio's village-specific single-producer series, Nuestra Soledad releases mezcals sourced from individual maestros in different Oaxacan villages using the same espadin agave but showing dramatically different flavor profiles depending on the producer's technique, water source, and wild yeast population. The San Luis Amatlán and Ejutla expressions are particularly celebrated for demonstrating how identical agave variety tastes completely different across 50 kilometres of Oaxacan geography.

A collaboration between master distiller Iván Saldaña and Bacardi-owned House of Cuervo, Montelobos sits at the quality end of the non-artisanal mezcal market with a genuine botanical and mineral complexity approaching estate artisanal producers at a mass-distribution price point. Saldaña's own agave research — he wrote the definitive academic survey of Mexican agave species — gives Montelobos an intellectual credibility that most commercial mezcals lack.