A mezcalero harvests an espadin, the most cultivated species of agave in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico -- prized for its high sugar content and large size, ultimately resulting in a higher yield of spirits trickling from the still. It is also widely used as a result of its relatively rapid growth rate -- still, it takes anywhere between seven, and in the case of some of the agaves on this hillside, up to sixteen years to reach maturation.