Anyone in the bar and restaurant industry interested in spirits or in southern Mexican culture has, no doubt, watched in horror or delight the rocket-like ascension of mezcal on the global drinks scene over the last few years. The agave-based spirit seems to have taken off on the coattails of tequila—which continues its own rapid climb to the top of alcohol sales mountain—on a mission to make itself the go-to drink of everyone. The agave spirits’ quantum leap in popularity and accessibility has left one question on every bar business-oriented mind: “What’s the next mezcal?” And some think they’ve already found the answer: sotol.
Sotol carries a variety of similar properties to mezcal. From its distinct smoky flavor to its Mexican agave-like plant origin, the resemblance is almost uncanny. Even making sotol “is a process very, very similar to that of mezcal,” says Wendy Eisenberg, cofounder of Casa Lotos Sotol. “The plant is harvested, the heads are cooked over a fire in an underground pit, which provides this very smoky flavor. The plant is then fermented in wooden vats, traditionally, and distilled in either copper or stainless-steel pot stills.”
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Photography by David Alvarado for Los Magos Sotol
But sotol doesn’t come from agave, it comes from the Dasylirion wheeleri, a.k.a. the desert spoon, which, like agave, is part of the same botanical family as the asparagus plant. It grows in the northern deserts of Mexico (not the southern)—primarily in Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila—and in the Southwestern United States.
But sotol carries some distinct advantages: “Unlike agave, which you can harvest once and then it dies, the dasylirion plant, if you harvest it carefully, you can get several harvests throughout the plant’s life,” says Eisenberg.
So why hasn’t sotol caught on like mezcal or tequila? It’s a question with answers found across the spirit’s history.
