The agaves behind the bottle
Mezcal can be made from dozens of agave species; tequila from exactly one. These guides explain how each variety grows, why it costs what it does, and what it actually tastes like — with every matching bottle from the catalog.
Espadín
Agave angustifolia Haw.
Agave angustifolia — the cultivated backbone of Oaxacan mezcal and the variety behind most bottles you'll ever pour.
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Tobalá
Agave potatorum Zucc.
Agave potatorum — the small, wild, shade-grown agave that gave mezcal its reputation for perfume and price.
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Tepeztate
Agave marmorata Roezl
Agave marmorata — the cliff-dwelling giant that can take thirty years to mature and tastes like nothing else in mezcal.
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Madrecuixe & Cuishe
Agave karwinskii Zucc.
Agave karwinskii — the tall, trunked agave family behind madrecuixe, cuishe, barril, bicuishe and tobaziche.
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Arroqueño
Agave americana var. oaxacensis
Agave americana var. oaxacensis — a giant that can take fifteen years and produce some of the deepest, most savoury mezcal made.
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Mexicano
Agave rhodacantha Trel.
Agave rhodacantha — a tall, spiny agave that sits between espadín's structure and the wild varieties' aroma.
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Cupreata (Papalote)
Agave cupreata Trel. & A. Berger
Agave cupreata — Guerrero's wide-leafed wild agave, known locally as papalote, and the backbone of mezcal outside Oaxaca.
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Salmiana
Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck
Agave salmiana — the highland desert agave behind San Luis Potosí's clean, low-smoke mezcal.
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Blue Weber
Agave tequilana Weber var. azul
Agave tequilana Weber var. azul — the only agave allowed in tequila, and the most farmed agave on earth.
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