Michoacán mezcal: agaves, family distilleries and wooden stills

Michoacán’s mezcal is made in family distilleries known as vinatas, in the hills around Morelia and Lake Pátzcuaro and farther east around Queréndaro. Local agaves include chino and alto, harvested from wild populations and cultivated plantings. One distinctive piece of equipment is the Filipino still: a hollow wooden chamber topped with a bowl of cold water that cools the vapor inside.

Chino and alto grow wild and in managed plantings

Chino (Agave cupreata) and alto (Agave inaequidens) are characteristic agaves of Michoacán’s mezcal tradition. In neighboring Guerrero, cupreata also goes by papalote or ancho. ¹

Wild populations still supply agave, while growers also raise plants from seed. Cupreata cultivation in Madero, Charo, Tzitzio and Morelia includes nursery-grown plants, field plantings and agaves managed among trees. Alto growers around Indaparapeo and Queréndaro have also raised seedlings and replanted managed woodland populations. These practices developed as wild supply came under pressure. ²

In one Mezonte bottling, Jorge Pérez combines wild alto with cultivated pulquero (A. americana) and espadín (A. angustifolia). ⁴

Roasting, crushing and fermentation

The maker, or vinatero, roasts the agave in a pit oven, often lined with volcanic stone. After the roast, the softened hearts are chopped or crushed before fermentation. Wooden mallets and mechanical mills are both used. A wooden crushing trough may be called a batea or canoa; the mallet pounds the agave inside it. ⁵

Fermentation vessels include wooden vats, masonry tanks and pits lined with wood. Don Mateo uses mechanical milling and oak vats set into the ground. Jorge Pérez and Josefina work differently: they pound the agave with wooden mallets in eucalyptus troughs and ferment it in masonry tanks. Their process uses pulque, a drink made from fermented agave sap, to start fermentation. ^{3 6}

How the Filipino still works

A Filipino-type still has a boiler below a hollow wooden upper chamber. A bowl of cold water closes the top. Rising vapor cools beneath the bowl, and the condensed spirit falls into a collector inside the chamber before flowing through a side outlet. An agave leaf shaped into a channel can form the collector, also called a canoa. The same word is used for the wooden trough in which agave is crushed. ⁵

Jorge Pérez’s still combines a copper boiler with an oyamel (fir) upper chamber. Its internal condensation differs from Ramiro Ávila’s Durango apparatus, where vapor leaves the wooden chamber and travels into a separate cooling coil. Don Mateo and Palomas Mensajeras also use Filipino stills. ^{6 7}

Durango: an external cooling coil

1. Heat produces vapor in the copper boiler; it rises through the wooden chamber.
2. The vapor travels through a pipe to a coil in a separate cold-water bath.
3. The vapor condenses in the coil, and the spirit flows into the collection vessel.

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Michoacán: condensation inside the chamber

1. Heat produces vapor in the copper boiler; it rises through the wooden chamber.
2. A cold-water bowl on top cools the vapor, which condenses beneath the bowl.
3. The spirit falls into an internal collector and flows through a side outlet.

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Michoacán’s protected mezcal territory

Michoacán first entered the Mezcal denomination through a resolution published on 22 November 2012, naming 29 municipalities. Taretan joined on 24 September 2025, bringing the territory to 30 of the state’s 113 municipalities. ¹¹

Michoacán accounted for 1.57% of Mexico’s certified mezcal production reported by COMERCAM for 2025. Spirits sold outside that certification, including agave distillates, are outside the reported total. ¹²

Tequila and mezcal share nine municipalities

Michoacán is also one of tequila’s five protected states. Nine municipalities appear in both its Tequila and Mezcal territories: Cotija, Cojumatlán de Régules, Jiquilpan, Los Reyes, Marcos Castellanos, Sahuayo, Tancítaro, Venustiano Carranza and Vista Hermosa. Producers in these places can qualify to make either spirit under its respective rules. ¹³

The protected name depends on the producer and product as well as the place. Tequila requires Azul, A. tequilana Weber var. azul, grown in its territory, an authorized factory and compliance with tequila’s production and certification rules. Mezcal requires 100% agave from its own territory, with its own process, authorization and certification requirements. Read more in the tequila guide and mezcal guide. ¹⁴

An authorized tequila factory cannot also make mezcal. The tequila standard prohibits producing or distilling an alcoholic product containing no tequila within that factory. ¹⁴

Two family distilleries: Don Mateo and Palomas Mensajeras

Questions about Michoacán mezcal

What is alto in Michoacán mezcal?

Alto is a local name for Agave inaequidens in Michoacán.

Can tequila and mezcal be made in the same Michoacán municipality?

Yes. Nine Michoacán municipalities lie in both protected territories. Each producer and product must meet the rules for its spirit; tequila requires Azul grown within its protected territory. An authorized tequila factory cannot also produce mezcal.

Compare Michoacán with other mezcal regions