Another exciting and intriguing bottle of Sotol – the rarely exported Mexican spirit that isn’t mezcal or Tequila.

This spirit is made with a spindly plant called Dasylirion Wheeleri or “Desert Spoon”. The plant is mostly harvested from the wild, and requires patience: it takes 15 years for Desert Spoon to reach maturity, and each plant can only produce one bottle. Therefore, by necessity, this is a small batch spirit.

Sotol shares many traits with Mezcal in particular, and the spirits are made in similar ways. This Reposado has been aged in French oak casks for six months, giving it some light colour and rounding off the harsher qualities of the spirit.

This Hacienda De Chihuahua offering serves up plenty of bright herbaceous flavours, with notes of peppery thyme, lemongrass, succulent grassiness, citrus rind and vanilla oak creaminess with a little white sugar.

The biggest name in this spirit showing that Sotol is more than a gimmick. A must-try for anyone interested in the world’s more obscure distillates.

• Distillery / brand
  Hacienda de Chihuahua
• Country
  Mexico
• SKU
  030429