The rural town of Santiago Matatlán, just to the east of Oaxaca City in the Valles Centrales region, is widely known as the epicenter for traditional mezcal production. Many small villages in Oaxaca are known for an art, craft, or trade that artisans in the village specialize in. In Santiago Matatlán, it is mezcal they are known and celebrated for, and have been for generations. The Espadín agave harvested by the Cortés family to produce this expression of Nuestra Soledad grows at an elevation of 5,500-5,900 feet in a mountain canyon rich with agave diversity. Amongst stunning vistas, the Espadín agaves for this mezcal are sustainably cultivated alongside wild outcrops of Tepeztate, Tobalá and Coyote agaves. Mezcalero Gregorio Martinez Jarquín has been working in Santiago Matatlán since he was a teenager and is widely respected in the mezcalero community.