As a gentleman of discernment, you’ve probably delved head-first into the world of wine and learned the nuances of a complex whisky. Now there’s another spirit to add to your knowledge of alcoholic savoir-faire.
A distant cousin of tequila and mezcal, sotol is a unique spirit that some consider to have been the first alcoholic beverage ever consumed in Texas. It’s fitting then, that Desert Door, the finest purveyors of sotol in the United States, has its facility in Driftwood, Texas, a few hours from sotol’s ancestral home of northern Mexico.
Unlike tequila and mezcal, both of which are made from agave, sotol is made from the desert spoon plant native to Texas and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila.
“We don’t like to compare sotol to tequila or mezcal because when we’ve done that in the past, we’ve found that first-time sotol drinkers are still surprised and sometimes confused,” says co-founder Judson Kauffman. “It’s smoother than bourbon, less smokey than mezcal, and doesn’t burn like tequila. It’s best to simply describe it as something different that tastes like the Texas desert.”
Developed by a group of Texans with a dedication to authenticity, craft and history, Desert Door is a sotol that stays true to its Mexican roots while being uniquely Texan.
Desert Door produces two premium sotols. The original is a clean, fresh, herbaceous expression that’s versatile enough to make a great cocktail base. The 100 proof Oak-Aged product is aged in new American charred white oak barrels, giving the spirit a caramel vanilla sweetness tempered by the smokiness of a bourbon.
To make their unique sotol, Desert Door uses sustainable harvesting methods that maximise the juice obtained from the sotol plants. Like most spirits, the sugars are extracted and fermented – in this case, for five days – with a proprietary yeast, before the resulting mash is distilled in custom-built stills.
At this stage, some of the alcohol is removed to create the Desert Door Original sotol. The rest is set aside for barrel aging to create the Oak-Aged product.
If you happen to be in Texas, the Desert Door Distillery has a tasting room where you can enjoy gourmet snacks and regional art while learning about sotol and enjoying unique sotol cocktails. Better yet, visit on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to take a tour of the facilities. om where you