Located about 40 km from the city of Oaxaca, in the municipality of Ocotlán de Morelos in the Valles Centrales, the “mezcal minero” takes its name from the community of Santa Catarina Minas. This town owes its name to the devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the exploitation of various precious metals during the viceregal period.

Santa Catarina Minas, known as The Cradle of Mezcal, is renowned among enthusiasts for its ancestral production methods, still preserved in most palenques: hand-crushing with wooden mallets and distillation in clay pots.

The production scale in these clay pots, which range from 80 to 100 liters in capacity, is very small and yields are low. With hand-crushing, the fibers are not completely destroyed, leaving sugars trapped in the maguey, sometimes leading to long fermentations of up to 20 days.

Double distillation in clay pots involves both the tepache and maguey bagasse (a common practice among mezcaleros). The first distillation is done with intense flames, while the second uses small embers to reduce the volatilization of higher alcohols.

Producers in Santa Catarina Minas uphold these practices, convinced that the hard work—baking, crushing, fermentation, and distillation—creates fine, unique, and elegant mezcals. Their spirits are often distinguished by pronounced flavors and aromas of wet earth, green (unripe) fruits, sweet cooked maguey, and, for connoisseurs, even fatty notes reminiscent of bacon or ham. These qualities set them apart from all other producers.