Yola Mezcal

Long before it became ubiquitous around the world, mezcal was the well-kept secret of a handful of regions in Mexico, particularly the southern state of Oaxaca. There, back in the sixties, one local’s lifelong love affair with the spirit led him to buy a farm and distillery in the village of San Juan del Río. Luis Jimenez spent years alongside his friend and master mezcalero, Javier Bautista, concocting various recipes of mezcal to bottle and share with everyone he welcomed into his home, eventually including his granddaughter, Yola. This is where our story begins. After spending time abroad, Yola Jimenez was drawn back to the slow pleasures of her native Oaxaca, where she inherited her grandfather’s farm in 2007 and began deepening her relationship to the land and the mezcal it produces. It’s no coincidence that this moment aligns with the drink’s sudden rise in popularity — Yola was one of the movement’s earliest pioneers. Along with two friends, she opened one of Mexico City’s first mezcalerías. She sold small batches of her farm’s production to a handful of innovative chefs, laying the groundwork for our current global community of creatives. When Lykke Li and Gina Correll Aglietti joined Yola to build a company, they suggested naming it after her, to celebrate its roots as the passion project of a woman and a local. It was clear from the start that a women-led company from Oaxaca should also be women-operated. Our master mezcalera — a role traditionally held by men — is Guadalupe Bautista, Javier’s daughter, and our mezcal is distilled and bottled by an all-female team on our namesake farm. From the most intimate dinners to a massive music festival, we’ve produced and hosted dozens of events where women head the table: chefs, artists, musicians. Across cultures and borders, every glass we raise is a nod toward pleasure, heritage, and the moments that bring us together.