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Mezcal (from Nahuatl mexcalli, "liquor") is a Mexican distilled spirit made from agave (maguey) plants. Its production and consumption are popularly associated with the Mexican state of Oaxaca. However, commercial and private production of mezcal is known over a wide area of central-south Mexico outside of tequila-producing areas (primarily the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato). There are many different species of agave plant, and each produces a different flavor of mezcal. The term mezcal generally refers to all agave-based distilled liquors that are not tequila (a mezcal variant made principally from the blue agave plant in the town of Tequila and the surrounding region of Jalisco). The mezcal of Sonora is called bacanora in reference to the municipality where it is made. Chihuahuan mezcal is called sotol after the plant that is used there.

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Mezcal is made principally from the agave plant, commonly referred to in Mexico as maguey. In the Tequila region, the indigenous people call the plant mezcal. The genus name Agave (a Greek word meaning "noble") was assigned to the 400+ species around a hundred years ago due to the large number of uses that the plant offered ancient peoples, and has become the more common term in English. After the agave matures (6–8 years) it is harvested by magueyeros (agave field workers, more generally called jimadores) and the leaves are chopped off using a long-handled knife known as a coa de jima or coa (a type of machete), leaving only the large piñas ("pineapples") or corazones ("hearts"). The piñas is then cooked and crushed, producing a mash.

Santiago Matatlan in Oaxaca is known as the world capital of mezcal. The family that is world renowned for their mezcal production is the Mateos family. This family has mezcal brands that ranges from Mezcal Beneva (founder Pedro Mateo), Fandango (co-founder Tiburrusio Mateos), Oro de Oaxaca (founder Jose Lopez Mateos) and others that are just family name brands still, not registered trademarks. This family has been in business for many generations and is still influential.

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