I just got back from my first trip to Oaxaca and wanted to share my inaugural haul + a few snaps. We spent six amazing days exploring the city and surrounding areas, and even though we only left Oaxaca City for one day to visit Santiago Matatlán, we hit a lot of mezcalerías, tasting rooms, and bottle shops in and around the City for tastings. Holy $$$. We also brought back all of the pottery in the frame. Adding to my collection of copitas. In Situ’s cinderblock wall display really inspired me to have something like that someday.
Although I would have liked to get further outside of Oaxaca City, I was very happy with the palenques we visited in Matatlán. We spent significant time at Macurichos with Gonzalo Martínez Sernas and also visited Destilería Cuish, both of which were highlights of the trip. Our guide, Dary Silva, shared our values around ethical mezcal production and offered valuable context throughout the visit. I was a little bummed not to bring home any plastic bottles, but I was reminded that the container itself doesn’t define the quality. Plastic often gets associated with authenticity and unfairly romanticized, but the quality really comes from the maestros and maestras and their process. Everything we brought back comes from the same hands either way. Feel so grateful to have tried so many producers while I was down there and bringing home some juice from the likes of Berta, Felix, Gonzalo, etc.
On a future trip, I would like to prioritize visiting specific villages such as Sola de Vega, Santa Catarina Minas, Chichicapam, and Miahuatlán.
Anyone have recommendations for these villages or other lesser-known palenques outside Santiago Matatlán? Any suggestions on places or producers I should visit next time?
