“This is clean liquid,” Fructuoso Garcia, 84, one of a handful of producers in this region, stood and declared to the group. “We don’t put anything in to beef up the flavor. This is nothing like you get from the factory.”

Mr. Garcia is one of several local producers fighting to share in the boom in Mexican spirits, with mescal, against all odds, taking a star turn.

Image Several artisanal mescal producers are Zumpahuacán. Credit... The New York Times

It is moving a bit out of the shadow of tequila, the far more popular and, let’s face it, smoother spirit that has won fans (and hangovers) around the world.

Both are derived from agave, a plant native to Mexico, and technically speaking, tequila is a type of mescal (though in Mexico they are regarded as very different drinks, much like champagne and wine). While tequila is made from a specific variety of the plant’s fruit and produced mainly in Jalisco State, mescal (or mezcal as it is spelled in Mexico) is made from a broader class and is often viewed as the earthier, country cousin, distilled in a centuries-old process distinct from tequila’s and with an alcohol content generally in excess of 45 percent.