OAX Original started out the way many great projects do, with a few friends bonding over a shared passion. In this case, it was mezcal and those friends were four artists and designers living in New York, each with their own personal connection to Mexican arts and architecture.

They wanted to create a mezcal brand that would not only showcase Oaxaca’s extensive diversity but also make tasting it a one-of-a-kind experience, from the moment your hand touches the bottle to the first sip landing on your tongue.  “Here, the culture of tequila is strong and people are very accustomed to shots, but to say, ‘Hey wait. This is a product to sip and enjoy . . .”

The OAX Original brand started with three types of agave – arroqueño, tobalá and tepeztate — producing 1,000 bottles of each at the launch. They quickly sold out.

The brand is now on its third production round, each time working alongside mezcal master Enrique Hernández Zenea, whose family has lived four generations in Oaxaca.

All their mezcals are made with single-origin wild agave that Hernández is harvesting sustainably, employing local community members.  But, Giraudo notes, as the world consumes more and more of the alcoholic beverage, if nothing is done, “one day [the agave] will be gone.” So this year, the team started planting tobalá agave on Hernández’s land. If any of the agaves they use for the production start to be endangered, they will immediately cease production with those varieties, Giraudo said.

Not only is OAX Original’s mezcal artisanal, so are its bottles, which feel like stone and are designed in homage to 20th-century Mexican architecture. (Photo: Jill Burrow for OAX Original)

OAX Original mezcal can be found most easily on the company’s website, but if you’re in the U.S., it’s also now available in shops in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Oregon and a selected number of bars in New York and New Jersey.