Del Maguey invented single-village mezcal. Before Ron Cooper started bottling each Oaxacan village's mezcal separately under the village's name in 1995, mezcal in the US meant a worm in a jug. Thirty years later the hand-blown bottles with the Ken Price labels are the reference point every other mezcal gets compared to. This guide covers how the range is organized, every Del Maguey we have in stock, and which bottle to start with.
Shop all Del Maguey mezcal in stock
About Del Maguey
Ron Cooper is a Taos artist who fell for the village mezcals of Oaxaca in 1990 and founded Del Maguey five years later on one idea: bottle each village's mezcal on its own, name the village on the label, and credit the family who made it. Every bottle is certified organic, and every mezcal in the Single Village range is made the traditional way: agave roasted in an earthen pit over wood, crushed by tahona (a stone wheel) or by hand, fermented naturally with wild yeast in wood, and twice-distilled, in copper at most villages and in clay pots at Santa Catarina Minas. Pernod Ricard bought the brand in 2017; the producers and the methods are the same.
The range splits three ways. The core villages are espadín mezcals from different places, each tasting of where it was made. The Vino de Mezcal series bottles rare wild agaves. And Vida is the cocktail mezcal that made the category a bar staple.
Del Maguey Mezcal in Stock at Chips Liquor
For Cocktails
Vida de Puebla is the newest Vida. The original, from San Luis del Río, became the world's go-to cocktail mezcal after its 2010 launch, and by 2023 demand had outrun what one village could produce, so co-founder Steve Olson built a new palenque in Axocopan, Puebla. It's 100% espadín at 40% ABV, roasted underground and twice-distilled in copper, and Del Maguey says Puebla's volcanic soil gives it a distinct minerality. For a Mezcal Margarita, a Naked & Famous, or an Oaxacan Old Fashioned, it's the value bottle.
The Core Villages
Chichicapa Boca del Cerro is where it started: one of the first two Del Maguey bottlings, 100% espadín from San Baltazar Chichicápam, made by the García family and bottled at 46% ABV. Del Maguey calls it the archetype of a great Oaxacan valley mezcal, and Cooper's own tasting note is three words: citrus, mint, chocolate. Boca del Cerro was the 20th-anniversary edition. If you buy one Del Maguey, this is it.
Espadín Especial comes from San Luis del Río and Paciano Cruz Nolasco's family, the same palenque behind the original Vida, bottled at full expression at 45% ABV rather than proofed down for cocktails. The sipping version of the most famous cocktail mezcal.
Santo Domingo Albarradas is the high-mountain mezcal, made in the Sierra Norte by Espiridión Morales, who has distilled since the 1950s. Espadín at 48% ABV, and the brightest, fruitiest, most floral of the core villages.
Minero is distilled in clay. Santa Catarina Minas is the heartland of ancestral mezcal, where the Carlos family still runs ollas de barro, clay pots over direct fire with a bamboo tube, the method that predates copper. Espadín at 49% ABV, rounder and earthier than anything from a copper still.
San Luis del Río Azul is the oddity: blue agave, the tequila plant, grown in Oaxaca and made the Oaxacan way (pit-roasted, tahona-crushed, copper-distilled) by Paciano's family, at 47% ABV. The missing link between tequila and mezcal, and the bottle to pour next to a good blanco.
The Wild Agaves (Vino de Mezcal Series)
Tobalá is the King of Agaves: a small wild plant that grows in the shade of oaks in high canyons and yields about an eighth of what espadín does. Del Maguey's, from Santa María Albarradas at 45% ABV, has been the reference tobalá for decades.
Wild Tepextate comes from an agave that grows on cliff faces and takes 20 to 25 years to mature, from the same Santa María Albarradas palenque, at 45%. Green, savory, mineral, and a connoisseur's taste.
Arroqueño is one of the giant agaves, with piñas that can weigh hundreds of pounds and take up to 25 years, distilled in clay at Santa Catarina Minas, at about 49%. Creamy, with melon and green bean notes reviewers consistently call out.
Wild Jabalí is the agave that fights the still: it foams so violently during distillation that most mezcaleros won't touch it. From Santa María Albarradas at 47%, savory and unusual by design, for drinkers who've worked through everything else.
Also in stock from the series: Madrecuixe, Tobaziche, Wild Papalome, San Pablo Ameyaltepec, and San José Río Minas.
Where to Start
- Cocktails: Vida de Puebla.
- First sipping bottle: Chichicapa.
- Tequila drinker crossing over: San Luis del Río Azul.
- Clay-distilled: Minero.
- First wild agave: Tobalá.
- Already deep into mezcal: Tepextate, Arroqueño, or Jabalí.
Drink all of them neat, from a copita or a small glass, at room temperature. Ice and lime are for the Vida.
Shipping Del Maguey From Chips Liquor
Every bottle above is in stock at our Pacific Beach shop in San Diego and ships fast to most states. For Mezcal Vago, Fidencio, Mal Bien, and the rest of the shelf, see the full mezcal collection, or read our guide to what separates mezcal from tequila.