Mezcal is Oaxaca's smoke-roasted agave spirit from 30-plus agave varieties, produced at small palenques across the Valles Centrales and Sierra ranges; in Mexico we have verified places to eat it in Oaxaca. Start with where to eat Mezcal in Oaxaca.

Mezcal · Oaxaca

Mezcal is Oaxaca's smoke-roasted agave spirit from 30-plus agave varieties, produced at small palenques across the Valles Centrales and Sierra ranges.

Mezcal is the smoke-roasted agave spirit of Oaxaca, with pre-Hispanic origins refined under Spanish colonial-era distillation. Santiago Matatlan east of Oaxaca is the World Capital of Mezcal, with more than 200 registered palenques. The 2026 Feria Internacional del Mezcal runs July 17-28 and the Mezcaloteca on Reforma is the appointment-only library tasting room with 100-plus family-producer mezcals, opened in 2010.

Where to eat in Oaxaca:

Where to eat Mezcal in Oaxaca: the editor picks