Destilado de Pulque, also historically referred to as Mezcal de Pulque, dates back to the early days of the Spanish colonial era and of distilled spirits in Mexico. Pulque is the pre-Colonial agave-based drink that is made by fermenting the agave sap (known in Mexico as aguamiel)
There is not much historical writing on the early years of mezcal production or those of other agave spirits leaving some speculation and debate on the origins and possible earliest dates for destilados de pulque. Some claim it as an obvious precursor to mezcal as it would be logical for a creative and entrepreneurial alchemist to try to distill a fermented product with a high concentration of sugars such as pulque to see what the resultant spirit would be like. Others claim it came later as a way for producers to capitalize on pulque that is about to go over-ferment and go bad. Instead of throwing the product away, it would be returned to the haciendas pulqueras to be distilled and resold as destilado de pulque.
One thing all agree on is that the destilados de pulque went into obscurity with the decline of pulque itself in the early 20th century due to the rise and popularity of beer.