| Summary: | To determine the species of agaves most used for the elaboration of artisanal mescal, as well as their productive attributes and availability, interviews with producers were conducted and a ranking matrix was obtained. The agaves with greater scores were: “arroqueño” (Agave americana L. var. oaxacensis Gentry); the “espadín” and the “coyote” (A. angustifolia Haw and A. americana L.) all with high yields, demand in the market, rooting among the producers, but scarce in the region. In a second group there was located the maguey “tobalá” (Agave potatorum Zucc) the most emblematic culturally speaking, with high demand in the region, but with a low yield; besides it is only found in the wild, so it is already scarce. In the last block the agaves found: were “mexicano” (Agave aff. rodacantha), “barril” (Agave rhodacantha Trel), “jabalí” and tobasiche (Agave karwinskii Zucc.). The maguey coyote (Agave americana L.) had the highest yield of mescal with 17.78 ml / kg / year, the maguey jabalí (Agave kerchovei Lem) had the lowest yield with 6.16 ml / kg / year, while the espadín (Agave angustifolia Haw) was in an intermediate position. The agaves that had a low yield, small boll size and medium local rooting were generally used by non-certified producers as fillings to complete production lots.
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