Del Maguey is a living network of Zapotec and Mixtec producer families, maestros mezcaleros, jimadores and people who protect and share the knowledge behind Single Village mezcal. Together, they carry each expression from agave and palenque to copita.
Our heritage and craft at a glance
| Collective roles | Maestros mezcaleros, jimadores, Zapotec and Mixtec producer families, and the people who bring their work to the world |
| Established | 1995, when artist Ron Cooper founded Del Maguey and began sharing artisanal Single Village mezcal beyond its villages of origin |
| Origin | Family-run palenques in producer villages across Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico |
| Recognition | IWSC 2024 Outstanding Spirit Producer and Agave Producer, and what The New York Times called an opportunity to taste “some of the best in the world” |
| What guides us | Respect for village traditions, wild agave replanting, creative reuse of production by-products, linguistic preservation and rural community health |
The people behind Del Maguey
Del Maguey began in 1995 with artist Ron Cooper and a conviction: mezcal is best understood through the people and places that make it. He formed lasting relationships with family producers in remote villages, each with its own agaves, water, microclimate and way of working.
The Del Maguey Team brings that wider community together. Jimadores read the agave and know when it is ready to harvest. Producer families care for their palenques and pass knowledge between generations. Maestros mezcaleros make the decisions that shape each batch, from roasting and fermentation to the cut of the distillation. Our sustainability, hospitality and editorial teams help protect, document and share that work.
The Del Maguey Team byline gives our articles a clear collective home. Our guides and recipes are written first for bartenders and hospitality professionals, with enough context for curious drinkers discovering mezcal for the first time.
Single Village mezcal, made village by village
Single Village keeps origin visible. Every Del Maguey expression begins with a particular producer family and a particular place, and those differences remain in the glass.
In San Luis del Río, Paciano Cruz Nolasco and his son Marcos Cruz Méndez carry on a family tradition behind some of Del Maguey’s best-known mezcals. In Santa Catarina Minas, Luis Carlos Vásquez and his family work with ancestral clay-pot stills and mill roasted agave by hand for selected expressions. In Santa María Albarradas, Rogelio Martínez Cruz and his family work with spring water and agaves from the surrounding mountains.
Agave variety, soil, altitude, water, fermentation, still and the judgement of the maker all leave a trace. That is what Single Village means to us: allowing every mezcal to speak clearly of where, and by whom, it was made.
Awards and recognition
Recognition belongs to the entire chain of people behind each bottle. In 2024, the International Wine & Spirit Competition named Del Maguey both Agave Producer and Outstanding Spirit Producer.
The New York Times reached for a simpler description, writing that Del Maguey offers the chance to taste “some of the best in the world”. For us, both forms of recognition point back to the same source: the skill of the families and villages that make the mezcal.
Beyond the bottle: caring for land, language and community
Our work in producing villages continues after the mezcal leaves the palenque. Each initiative responds to a practical need in the places where Del Maguey mezcal is made.
Replanting wild agave
Through the Wild Agave Project, seeds collected by producer families are raised in partner nurseries and returned to communities with the right conditions for each species. Some plants go to communal land and others back to the mountain, helping wild agave populations continue for future generations.
Giving production by-products a second life
Bagazo and vinazas remain after mezcal production, but they can become useful materials. In Santa Catarina Minas, Del Maguey has supported adobe and rammed-earth workshops using these by-products, alongside COAA, local producers and architecture students from Oaxaca.
Helping preserve the Zapotec language
In San Baltazar Chichicapam, Del Maguey supported a Zapotec Talking Dictionary with Swarthmore College and community partners. The multimedia dictionary records words, voices, images and local knowledge; it is created with the community, belongs to the community and recognizes contributors by name.
Supporting rural community health
In May 2023, Del Maguey worked with Grower’s First and Yu’u Ba’a to bring a medical, dental and vision care brigade to Santo Domingo Albarradas. The project was organized with the Morales family and local municipal authorities so care could reach this remote producer community.
Explore our mezcal cocktail recipes
The same respect for origin guides the way we talk about mezcal in the glass. Our recipes and guides help bartenders and curious drinkers discover how smoke, fruit, minerality and texture shift from one expression to another, and which bottle gives each drink its character.
Explore our mezcal cocktail recipes and meet the expressions behind them.
Meet our sister brand, Altos
Our wider agave family also includes Altos, Del Maguey’s sister brand within House of Tequila. Altos is made from 100% blue agave grown in the highlands of Jalisco. One is mezcal made village by village; the other is tequila rooted in the highlands.
