Cousins, Not Twins: How to Tell Raicilla from Mezcal and Tequila

"Raicilla is basically a tequila." "It's just mezcal under another name." "Honestly, all agave spirits taste the same." Three things people say all the time—and all three fall short. Raicilla, mezcal, and tequila are relatives—they share the same grandfather—but they aren't the same drink. To understand how they split apart is to understand why each one tastes like the place it comes from.

In short: Raicilla, mezcal, and tequila are three agave spirits with different appellations of origin. Tequila (appellation since 1974) can only be made from blue agave; mezcal (since 1994) allows dozens of agaves across around a dozen states; and raicilla (since 2019) is produced in Jalisco and Nayarit from any wild or cultivated agave except tequila's blue agave.

They All Started With the Same Name

Here's the part almost no one mentions: during the viceregal era and much of the nineteenth century, there weren't three words. There was one. Every agave distillate in the country was recorded under a single generic label: vino mezcal ("mezcal wine"). That term covered what we now call tequila, what we now call mezcal, and, of course, raicilla.

The three drinks share the same origin and the same essence: they are distillates of the cabeza de agave (the agave heart), heirs to traditions reaching back to pre-Hispanic times that blended with a distilling technique brought from elsewhere. They are, in the most literal sense, first cousins.

What set them apart wasn't the botanist or the chemist—it was history. Each took root in its own territory, with its own agaves, its own people, its own way of working. And, in modern times, each earned its own denominación de origen (appellation of origin), the legal seal that protects a product tied to a place.

What Split Them: Three Appellations, Three Worlds

Tequila: One Agave, Large Scale

Tequila was the first to receive an appellation of origin, in 1974. Its strictest rule is also its most famous: it can only be made from one agave, Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety. It's produced in Jalisco and parts of four other states (Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas), and its scale is vast—the best-known agave spirit in the world, with production concentrated in a handful of large companies.

One more point worth clarifying without disparaging anyone: tequila allows a mixto category, in which part of the sugars may come from sources other than agave. That's why, when a tequila is 100% agave, it says so proudly on the label. It's a fundamental difference from spirits that know only one recipe: agave and nothing else.

Mezcal: Many Agaves, Many States

Mezcal received its appellation of origin in 1994. Its logic is almost the opposite of tequila's: it permits dozens of agave species and spans an enormous territory—around a dozen states, with Oaxaca as its historic heart. Hence its huge range of flavors. Mezcal is proof that "agave spirit" can mean a thousand things, depending on the maguey and the hands that make it.

Raicilla: The Youngest, the Most Local

Raicilla was the last to earn recognition: its appellation of origin was published on June 28, 2019, for 16 municipalities in Jalisco and one in Nayarit (Bahía de Banderas). Its rule has an almost poetic twist: it can be made from any wild or cultivated agave, with a single exception—tequila's blue agave. Put another way: the one maguey raicilla cannot use is precisely the one that defines its most famous cousin.

Raicilla de la Costa—ours—is made with wild agaves from the region: Agave angustifolia, Agave rhodacantha, and local varieties such as cenizo and chico aguiar. And it keeps a trait neither tequila nor mezcal shares: it's distilled in a still of Filipino tradition, a technique that reached these shores aboard the cultural-exchange ships of the Manila Galleon and was never abandoned here.

"The one agave raicilla can't use is, of all things, tequila's. Everything else is open country."

Three Myths Worth Burying

Is Raicilla a Kind of Tequila?

It isn't—in fact they're near opposites. Tequila lives off a single agave; raicilla accepts them all except that one. Tequila was built for scale; raicilla, for the taberna (the small distilling workshop). They share a state—Jalisco—but not a category.

Is Raicilla Just Mezcal Under Another Name?

It's the most understandable mix-up, because they do share a lineage: at the start, both were vino mezcal. But today they are separate appellations, with different territories, different agaves, and—in the case of raicilla de la Costa—a different still. Calling raicilla "mezcal" is like calling everything made from a grape "wine": technically it lands in the family, but you lose everything that makes it itself.

Do All Agave Spirits Taste the Same?

This one collapses at the first tasting. The agave, its species, the years it took to mature, the soil, the climate, the oven, the fermentation, the still—every variable leaves its mark in the glass. That's why a raicilla de la Costa doesn't taste like one from the Sierra, and neither tastes like tequila. Terroir isn't a slogan; you can taste it.

What Makes Raicilla de la Costa Unique

If we had to sum up why it's worth seeking out, it comes down to four things.

• Transparency. It's made from mature agave and nothing else. What you smell and taste comes from the plant and the place, not from a shortcut.

• Terroir. Our wild agaves grow for 10 to 16 years on the hillsides of Las Guásimas, Cabo Corrientes, before the jima (harvest). The cenizo, for instance, takes 14 to 16. That time can't be rushed, and it shows.

• Craft. From the cut to the horno subterráneo (underground earthen oven), from the majado (crushing) to natural fermentation, all the way to the double distillation in a Filipino still guided by maestro raicillero Jorge Carbajal Díaz. Every step is at human scale.

• Cultural root. Choosing an artisanal raicilla means supporting small producers, wild agaves, and a tradition that survived centuries of prohibition. It isn't just a drink: it's a living heritage that's still standing.

  
  

Next Time the Names Confuse You

Now you have an answer. Tequila: one agave, large scale. Mezcal: many agaves, many states. Raicilla: nearly every agave but one, a handful of municipalities, and a still that crossed the Pacific.

Order it alongside a good mezcal and a good tequila, serve them at room temperature in a glass that lets the spirit breathe, and compare. Not to decide which is "best"—they're three different paths from the same agave—but to hear what each place has to say. There, in the glass, the kinship becomes obvious… and so does the difference.

Please enjoy raicilla responsibly and in moderation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between raicilla, mezcal, and tequila?

All three are agave spirits that share a common colonial origin (they were all once called vino mezcal), but today they are separate appellations of origin. Tequila uses only blue agave; mezcal allows dozens of agaves across around a dozen states; and raicilla is made in Jalisco and Nayarit from any wild or cultivated agave except tequila's blue agave.

Is raicilla a type of tequila or mezcal?

No. Raicilla has had its own appellation of origin since 2019, with its own territory, agaves, and rules. It shares a historical lineage with mezcal, but legally and in flavor it's a category of its own.

What agave is raicilla made from?

From any wild or cultivated agave of the region, with one single exception: Agave tequilana Weber, blue variety. Raicilla de la Costa is made mainly from Agave angustifolia and Agave rhodacantha.

Where is raicilla produced?

In 16 municipalities of the state of Jalisco and in the municipality of Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit. Raicilla de la Costa comes from the coastal strip of that area, such as Cabo Corrientes.

What is raicilla de la Costa?

It's the raicilla produced in the coastal region of Jalisco. It stands out for its wild agaves—angustifolia, rhodacantha, cenizo, chico aguiar—and for being distilled in a still of Filipino tradition, a technique that arrived via the Manila Galleon.