Review: Desert Door Texas Sotol and Cask Strength Sotol

Sotol is a tequila-adjacent product made both in northern Mexico and in Texas, made from the Dasylirion plant (aka the desert spoon), a plant that’s widely regarded as a weed that grows wild across the deserts of these regions.

Turns out it works a lot like agave in distillation, and the product that’s made from it — sotol — is similar to tequila and mezcal, but different. While still a niche product, it’s growing in popularity, especially here in Texas, where one of its primary producers, Desert Door, is located about 20 miles from my house.

We’ve covered a couple of special editions of Desert Door sotol in the past, but never the standard “blanco” expression, which is reviewed here along with a cask strength version of its Oak Aged expression. Both come packaged in awesome bottles made of blue glass and featuring swing-top closures.

Desert Door Texas Sotol Review

Vegetal and peppery on the nose, not unlike a more rustic style of blanco tequila. A citrus note evokes grapefruit peel. The spirit becomes greener and even more vegetal as it develops in glass, with notes of green pepper, jalapeno, and oregano all in the mix, with dusty overtones of dried leather and split firewood.

The palate has a immediate character that is more earthy than vegetal, slightly muddy instead of green, perhaps evoking the slight smokiness of a mezcal. The pepperiness starts off with bell pepper and moves quickly to jalapeno, before a gritty punch of cigarette ash and wet asphalt comes along. The citrus is harder to find here, though it would certainly be welcome, with some acidity brightening up some of the funk.

Unaged sotol is probably not for everyone as a straight sipper, but the product mixes well and makes for a fine margarita — one with an herbal, peppery core.

80 proof. B / $45

Desert Door Cask Strength Texas Sotol Review

“Cask strength” implies a cask, and the cask with Desert Door Oak-Aged is charred, new American oak, in which its sotol spends two years. This is Desert Door’s first-ever cask strength release.

The nose is surprisingly sweet, with aromas of melted butterscotch candies, vanilla cake frosting, and coconut cream. That pepper-jalapeno character lies beneath, but it’s effectively masked by some quite candylike dessert elements, making the overall package a bit difficult to parse.

On the palate, more of the same: This is extremely sweet from start to finish, with vanilla sugar dominant, giving the body a marshmallow-like texture that reminded me of divinity, a very Texas dessert remembered fondly from my childhood. Notes of toasted and glazed pecans are enduring and rich, the finish leaning into Hershey’s chocolate syrup, drizzled over vanilla ice cream. Throughout it all there’s a peppery heat, though it’s less racy than a near-60% abv would suggest. Some of that exotic oregano and more visible notes of fresh thyme bring in an herbal component, though it’s a fitful combination with all that sugar.

115.4 proof as reviewed. (“Bottled by Carson.”) B+ / $70

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