Tequila’s Cousin?! Trying 50% ABV Sotol (This Was Unexpected)

[00:00:00] What if I told you that Tequila's wild cousin may just have gotten a little better? Today I'm going to try Soltunoche's brand new 50 ABV or 100 proof SOTOL. And I'm excited about giving it a try. But first I want to talk about what Soto is. It is made from the dasalyrium plant, which is not in the agave family. It is a Mexican spirit and it's made in the Chihuahua desert where the plants grow completely wild. The one thing that's really cool about Sotol is it's completely sustainable. You can actually harvest the plant over and over again instead of having to kill the plant and replant a new one. Like in the agave world, the root system just produces another plant to be able to use. They do take many, many years to grow and they look similar to what an agave plant looks like. And they're harvested in a similar fashion as well, cutting off the leaves and then cutting it off of the root system and then letting it come back. So sustainability is key in Sotol. And what Solta Noches did from taking their old bottle and creating this new bottle was taking a step into sustainability. They're making a hand blown bottle in Mexico using recycled glass. One of the things that's beautiful is the dasalyrium plant. You can see it right there in the side of the bottle. And, and then the bottom of the bottle, it actually has the sol to Noche's sun and moon logo. And they've added a couple of their awards that they won. They won best spirit award at the 2025 Bartender Bartender Spirit awards. So pretty cool. Spirit of the year Mexican spirit. So it's good for them to have their bottle and their spirit recognized by that group. And I'm fired up for them. And I want to try them in these right here, which I just received from villa318.com these are a handcrafted Mexican copita that they designed and I'm excited about trying them. Check out my friend Brad Buzzkirk's Agave Love and Lore. Did a great article in the Tequila Report, actually about different glassware and how the glassware affects what you smell and taste. So let's dive into this new 100 proof SOTOL and give it a try. The nose has this nice vegetal quality to it and there's always this nice earth earthy note with just a hint of smoke. Vegetal and earthy. That's really what I get from Soto every time. I love it. Let's dive into the taste of this. Wow. The earthiness. I said in another one where I tasted a different soul toll. I said it tastes like the. The desert and, and kind of the evening when, when the sun sets and you have the moisture like setting in the air and you have that smell of the sand. It's kind of weird to say that a smell becomes a taste, but it, it's what it reminds me of. There's a really nice vegetal quality as well. The finish is nice and long. I have to say it is amped up over the regular 40 ABV SOTOL, which I really love. This is just more flavor, more taste, less water. And you know, I pick it up every time in this sotol. In the finish of this. It's very nutty and you get like almost a pecan type taste. And it is there. It's very strong in the taste. I love it. And I'll say one of the qualities that I like with sotol is that smoky quality is there but to it is a lot less of the smoke and a little less of the fruity that I get in some mezcals and more earthy and more vegetal. And having that nutty compound in the end is really good too. So I don't know when this is coming out. I'm sure there'll be some updates and you'll see from Sultan no chase when it's going to hit the market. These new bottles are hitting soon as well. You can find them already. And this is a great spirit. And again, I want to say thanks to jeremyla38.com for these amazing glasses. They're absolutely beautiful and they're really easy to use too. So cheers. I hope you're all drinking some great agave spirits or maybe even an agave adjacent spirit. Cheers. Have a great night.