Palenque is the word for a mezcal distillery in Oaxaca. Other areas of Mexico have local terms for mezcal distillery like taberna (used in Jalisco for raicilla and other regional mezcal distilleries), fabrica (which means factory, and may be used in the central and northern areas of Mexico like Puebla, Estado de Mexico, and San Luis Potosi), or vinata (frequently used in Durango, Michoacan, and in Sonora, where they make bacanora).
In general Spanish, palenque means a defensive stockade or palisade. In Latin America, it can have the connotation of an indigenous roofed structure without walls and in a remote location used by fugitives, which may have jumped into Oaxacan vernacular because so many mezcal distilleries were hidden in hills and valleys in order to avoid authorities.
The word palenquero, another word for mezcalero, is a derivative of palenque.
Palenques come in many shapes and sizes, from very rustic structures without walls to large, modern facilities. A palenque typically houses tinas (mezcal fermentation barrels), stills (which also come in many shapes and sizes, from Filipino-style to alembique), and a tahona, or other means of crushing agave fiber.
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