Los Danzantes was founded in 1997 by two restaurateurs from Mexico City. They purchased a small distillery in Santiago Matatlán in Oaxaca. The distillery was then refurnished and adapted to modern requirements without forsaking traditional methods of production.

Alipús was established in 1999 by Los Danzantes to provide a market for family artisan distilleries. Hector Vázquez and later, Karina Abad Rojas, worked closely with selected small producers, both to improve their distillation methods and to help them with the complex paperwork required to certify their mezcals for export.

Alipús is a social project that seeks to generate rural economy in Oaxaca through making and commercialising artisan Mezcal. These are Mezcales jóvenes (unaged), made by local farmers. Alipús Santa Ana is produced by Familia Hernández, who have been working with Alipús since 2001. The village is 2.5 hours away from Oaxaca city, on a very windy road.

Tasting Notes: Soft and lightly fruity. Fermented in pine vats and distilled by don Eduardo Hernandez from agave espadín grown at about 5200 feet in mountainous, white and very rocky soil. Very cleanly distilled. Mezcals are smoky because the agaves are not steamed in an autoclave or roasted in an enclosed oven.