Santa Maria Albarradas, Oaxaca
At the foot of Mount Tobalá lies Santa María Albarradas, a small village of fewer than a thousand people, high in the cloud forests of the Mitla region of Oaxaca. Mount Tobalá is an almost mythical mountain, its peak so high it hides in the sky. A captivating forest grows there, rich with wild agaves that thrive only in the shade of oak trees and can’t be reproduced by hand, only by flowering quiotes.
The town stretches along the road that climbs up, festive and light, with adobe and brick houses and papel picado always swaying from the last celebration. Santa María Albarradas, perhaps for its hazy weather and its nearness to the enchanted lands of Mitla, breathes slowly and sweet. Don Rogelio’s smoky palenque sits by the roadside among oaks and rose bushes.
ROGELIO’S QUIET WAY
Rogelio’s mezcal is calm. There’s an unassuming elegance to it, made in silence beside Esteban, who is deaf. The only sounds are the bubbling of fermentation and the grinding stone. A radio sits nearby, but they never turn it on.
The Mountain and Its Cloud Forest
Tucked in the highlands of Oaxaca’s Central Valleys, Santa María Albarradas is surrounded by mountains and Cloud Forest. The road that leads there winds endlessly uphill, through a village that feels suspended between the earth and the clouds.
ROGELIO’S CIRCLE OF CARE
At the center is Don Rogelio Martínez Cruz, now in his seventies. He never married and never had children, which is unusual to say the least. Yet he is somehow always surrounded by women: his two sisters, nieces, and friends, who cook for him, care for him, and keep the house running. He stands happy among this fierce circle of females. At the palenque, a small team of nephews and neighbors help with the production, mainly Esteban, a deaf man who was adopted by the family at a young age.
The result
The combination of altitude, isolation, and traditional methods produces a mezcal with clarity and depth, shaped as much by environment as by human choice. What emerges is not a standardized profile, but a spirit that reflects its origin faithfully, expressive of both the land and the way it is made.
See ProductsMezcales from Santa Maria Albarradas
Tobalá
Price for Standard Shipping. Price may vary per store. Exclude delivery fees.The first wild varietal mezcal ever exported to the United States. Wild Tobalá grows in the shade of oak trees within hi…
Crafted on a hillside in Santa María Albarradas surrounded by fruit trees and rose bushes. Naturally fermented and twice…
Wild Jabali
Price for Standard Shipping. Price may vary per store. Exclude delivery fees.Jabalí is rare in the US due to its propensity to foam from high saponin levels during production. Meticulously produced…
Wild Tepextate
Price for Standard Shipping. Price may vary per store. Exclude delivery fees.Meticulously crafted by Rogelio Martínez Cruz the Tepextate agave matures over 20 to 30 years. Known for its large spira…
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